Antisense compounds and uses thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides compounds comprising oligonucleotides complementary to a pyruvate kinase M transcript. Certain such compounds are useful for hybridizing to a pyruvate kinase M transcript, including but not limited to a pyruvate kinase M transcript in a cell. In certain embodiments, such hybridization results in modulation of splicing of the pyruvate kinase M transcript. In certain embodiments, such compounds are used to treat one or more symptoms associated with cancer.

SEQUENCE LISTING

The present application is being filed along with a Sequence Listing inelectronic format. The Sequence Listing is provided as a file entitledBIOL0206WOSEQ.txt, created Oct. 30, 2013, which is 88 Kb in size. Theinformation in the electronic format of the sequence listing isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The pyruvate kinase M (PK-M) gene has 12 exons. Exon 9 and exon 10 arealternatively spliced in a mutually exclusive fashion to give rise tothe M1 and M2 isoforms of the PK-M gene. Inclusion of exon 9 andexclusion of exon 10 yields the PK-M1 isoform. Exclusion of exon 9 andinclusion of exon 10 yields the PK-M2 isoform. Exons 9 and 10 eachencode a 56 amino acid segment that confers distinctive properties tothe respective PK-M1 and PK-M2 isoforms. The PK-M2 isoform is expressedin a broad range of cancer cells, whereas PK-M1 is predominantlyexpressed in terminally differentiated tissues.

Antisense compounds have been used to modulate target nucleic acids.Antisense compounds comprising a variety of chemical modifications andmotifs have been reported. In certain instances, such compounds areuseful as research tools, diagnostic reagents, and as therapeuticagents. In certain instances antisense compounds have been shown tomodulate protein expression by binding to a target messenger RNA (mRNA)encoding the protein. In certain instances, such binding of an antisensecompound to its target mRNA results in cleavage of the mRNA. Antisensecompounds that modulate processing of a pre-mRNA have also beenreported. Such antisense compounds alter splicing, interfere withpolyadenlyation or prevent formation of the 5′-cap of a pre-mRNA.

Certain antisense compounds have been described previously. See forexample U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,845 and published International PatentApplication No. WO 2008/049085, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

SUMMARY

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides compoundscomprising oligonucleotides. In certain embodiments, sucholigonucleotides are complementary to a pyruvate kinase M (PK-M)transcript. In certain such embodiments, oligonucleotides arecomplementary to a target region of the PK-M transcript comprising exon10. In certain such embodiments, oligonucleotides are complementary to atarget region of the PK-M transcript comprising an intron adjacent toexon 10. In certain such embodiments, oligonucleotides are complementaryto a target region of the PK-M transcript comprising an intron adjacentto exon 10 and downstream of exon 10. In certain such embodiments,oligonucleotides are complementary to a target region of the PK-Mtranscript comprising an intron adjacent to exon 10 and upstream of exon10. In certain embodiments, the PK-M transcript comprises an exonicsplice enhancer for exon 10. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotidesinhibit inclusion of exon 10. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotidespromote skipping of exon 10. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotidespromote selection of exon 9. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotidespromote skipping of exon 10 and promote inclusion of exon 9. In certainsuch embodiments, PK-M mRNA with exon 9 mRNA is increased. In certainsuch embodiments, PK-M mRNA with exon 10 mRNA is decreased. In certainembodiments, the PK-M2 isoform of the PK-M protein is decreased. Incertain embodiments, the PK-M1 isoform of the PK-M protein is decreased.

In certain embodiments, including, but not limited to any of the abovenumbered embodiments, the PK-M transcript is in a human. In certainembodiments, including, but not limited to any of the above numberedembodiments, the PK-M transcript is in a mouse.

The present disclosure provides the following non-limiting numberedembodiments:

Embodiment 1

A compound comprising a modified oligonucleotide consisting of 8 to 30linked nucleosides and having a nucleobase sequence comprising acomplementary region, wherein the complementary region comprises atleast 8 contiguous nucleobases and is complementary to an equal-lengthportion within a target region of a PK-M transcript.

Embodiment 2

The compound of embodiment 1, wherein the target region of the PK-Mtranscript comprises exon 10 of the PK-M transcript.

Embodiment 3

The compound of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the complementary region ofthe modified oligonucleotide is 100% complementary to the target region.

Embodiment 4

The compound of any of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the complementaryregion of the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least 10 contiguousnucleobases.

Embodiment 5

The compound of any of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the complementaryregion of the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least 15 contiguousnucleobases.

Embodiment 6

The compound of any of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the complementaryregion of the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least 20 contiguousnucleobases.

Embodiment 7

The compound of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the nucleobase sequenceof the oligonucleotide is at least 80% complementary to the targetregion, as measured over the entire length of the oligonucleotide.

Embodiment 8

The compound of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the nucleobase sequenceof the oligonucleotide is at least 90% complementary to an equal-lengthregion of the PK-M transcript, as measured over the entire length of theoligonucleotide.

Embodiment 9

The compound of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the nucleobase sequenceof the oligonucleotide is 100% complementary to an equal-length regionof the PK-M transcript, as measured over the entire length of theoligonucleotide.

Embodiment 10

The compound of any of embodiments 1-9, wherein the target region iswithin exon 10 of the PK-M transcript.

Embodiment 11

The compound of any of embodiments 1-10, wherein the target region iswithin nucleobase 29153 and nucleobase 29281 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

Embodiment 12

The compound of any of embodiments 1-10, wherein the target region iswithin nucleobase 29158 and nucleobase 29262 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

Embodiment 13

The compound of any of embodiments 1-10, wherein the target region iswithin nucleobase 29164 and nucleobase 29188 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

Embodiment 14

The compound of any of embodiments 1-10, wherein the target region iswithin nucleobase 29261 and nucleobase 29279 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

Embodiment 15

The compound of any of embodiments 1-10, wherein the target region iswithin nucleobase 29168 and nucleobase 29183 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

Embodiment 16

The compound of any of embodiments 1-15, wherein the antisenseoligonucleotide comprises any one of SEQ ID NOs: 4 to 36.

Embodiment 17

The compound of any of embodiments 1-16, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises at least one modified nucleoside.

Embodiment 18

The compound of embodiment 17, wherein at least one modified nucleosidecomprises a modified sugar moiety.

Embodiment 19

The compound of embodiment 18, wherein at least one modified sugarmoiety is a 2′-substituted sugar moiety.

Embodiment 20

The compound of embodiment 19, wherein the 2′-substitutent of at leastone 2′-substituted sugar moiety is selected from among: 2′-OMe, 2′-F,and 2′-MOE.

Embodiment 21

The compound of any of embodiments 17-20, wherein the 2′-substituent ofat least one 2′-substituted sugar moiety is a 2′-MOE.

Embodiment 22

The compound of any of embodiments 1-18, wherein at least one modifiedsugar moiety is a bicyclic sugar moiety.

Embodiment 23

The compound of embodiment 22, wherein at least one bicyclic sugarmoiety is LNA or cEt.

Embodiment 24

The compound of any of embodiments 18-23, wherein at least one sugarmoiety is a sugar surrogate.

Embodiment 25

The compound of embodiment 24, wherein at least one sugar surrogate is amorpholino.

Embodiment 26

The compound of embodiment 24, wherein at least one sugar surrogate is amodified morpholino.

Embodiment 27

The compound of any of embodiment 1-26, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises at least 5 modified nucleosides, eachindependently comprising a modified sugar moiety.

Embodiment 28

The compound of embodiment 27, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises at least 10 modified nucleosides, each independentlycomprising a modified sugar moiety.

Embodiment 29

The compound of embodiment 27, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises at least 15 modified nucleosides, each independentlycomprising a modified sugar moiety.

Embodiment 30

The compound of embodiment 27, wherein each nucleoside of the modifiedoligonucleotide is a modified nucleoside, each independently comprisinga modified sugar moiety

Embodiment 31

The compound of any of embodiments 1-30, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises at least two modified nucleosides comprisingmodified sugar moieties that are the same as one another.

Embodiment 32

The compound of any of embodiments 1-31, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises at least two modified nucleosides comprisingmodified sugar moieties that are different from one another.

Embodiment 33

The compound of any of embodiments 1-32, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises a modified region of at least 5 contiguousmodified nucleosides.

Embodiment 34

The compound of embodiment 33, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises a modified region of at least 10 contiguous modifiednucleosides.

Embodiment 35

The compound of embodiment 33, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises a modified region of at least 15 contiguous modifiednucleosides.

Embodiment 36

The compound of embodiment 33, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises a modified region of at least 20 contiguous modifiednucleosides.

Embodiment 37

The compound of any of embodiments 32-36, wherein each modifiednucleoside of the modified region has a modified sugar moietyindependently selected from among: 2′-F, 2′-OMe, 2′-MOE, cEt, LNA,morpholino, and modified morpholino.

Embodiment 38

The compound of any of embodiments 33-37, wherein the modifiednucleosides of the modified region each comprise the same modificationas one another.

Embodiment 39

The compound of embodiment 38, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified region each comprise the same 2′-substituted sugar moiety.

Embodiment 40

The compound of embodiment 38, wherein the 2′-substituted sugar moietyof the modified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides isselected from 2′-F, 2′-OMe, and 2′-MOE.

Embodiment 41

The compound of embodiment 39, wherein the 2′-substituted sugar moietyof the modified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides is2′-MOE.

Embodiment 42

The compound of embodiment 38, wherein the modified nucleosides of theregion of modified nucleosides each comprise the same bicyclic sugarmoiety.

Embodiment 43

The compound of embodiment 42, wherein the bicyclic sugar moiety of themodified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides is selectedfrom LNA and cEt.

Embodiment 44

The compound of embodiment 38, wherein the modified nucleosides of theregion of modified nucleosides each comprises a sugar surrogate.

Embodiment 45

The compound of embodiment 44, wherein the sugar surrogate of themodified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides is amorpholino.

Embodiment 46

The compound of embodiment 44, wherein the sugar surrogate of themodified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides is a modifiedmorpholino.

Embodiment 47

The compound of any of embodiments 1-46, wherein the modified nucleotidecomprises no more than 4 contiguous naturally occurring nucleosides.

Embodiment 48

The compound of any of embodiments 1-46, wherein each nucleoside of themodified oligonucleotide is a modified nucleoside.

Embodiment 49

The compound of embodiment 48 wherein each modified nucleoside comprisesa modified sugar moiety.

Embodiment 50

The compound of embodiment 49, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified oligonucleotide comprise the same modification as one another.

Embodiment 51

The compound of embodiment 50, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified oligonucleotide each comprise the same 2′-substituted sugarmoiety.

Embodiment 52

The compound of embodiment 51, wherein the 2′-substituted sugar moietyof the modified oligonucleotide is selected from 2′-F, 2′-OMe, and2′-MOE.

Embodiment 53

The compound of embodiment 52, wherein the 2′-substituted sugar moietyof the modified oligonucleotide is 2′-MOE.

Embodiment 54

The compound of embodiment 50, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified oligonucleotide each comprise the same bicyclic sugar moiety.

Embodiment 55

The compound of embodiment 54, wherein the bicyclic sugar moiety of themodified oligonucleotide is selected from LNA and cEt.

Embodiment 56

The compound of embodiment 50, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified oligonucleotide each comprises a sugar surrogate.

Embodiment 57

The compound of embodiment 56, wherein the sugar surrogate of themodified oligonucleotide is a morpholino.

Embodiment 58

The compound of embodiment 56, wherein the sugar surrogate of themodified oligonucleotide is a modified morpholino.

Embodiment 59

The compound of any of embodiments 1-58, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises at least one modified internucleoside linkage.

Embodiment 60

The compound of embodiment 59, wherein each internucleoside linkage is amodified internucleoside linkage.

Embodiment 61

The compound of embodiment 59 or 60, comprising at least onephosphorothioate internucleoside linkage.

Embodiment 62

The compound of embodiment 60, wherein each internucleoside linkage is amodified internucleoside linkage and wherein each internucleosidelinkage comprises the same modification.

Embodiment 63

The compound of embodiment 62, wherein each internucleoside linkage is aphosphorothioate internucleoside linkage.

Embodiment 64

The compound of any of embodiments 1-63 comprising at least oneconjugate.

Embodiment 65

The compound of any of embodiments 1-64 consisting of the modifiedoligonucleotide.

Embodiment 66

The compound of any of embodiments 1-65, wherein the compound modulatessplicing of the PK-M transcript.

Embodiment 67

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising any of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 4 to 36.

Embodiment 68

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising any of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 4 to 17.

Embodiment 69

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising any of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 18 to 28.

Embodiment 70

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising any of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 29 to 36.

Embodiment 71

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising SEQ ID NO. 32.

Embodiment 72

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising SEQ ID NO. 7.

Embodiment 73

The compound of any of embodiments 1-66, having a nucleobase sequencecomprising SEQ ID NO. 24.

Embodiment 74

A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound according to any ofembodiments 1-73 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent.

Embodiment 75

The pharmaceutical composition of embodiment 74, wherein thepharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent is sterile saline.

Embodiment 76

A method of modulating splicing of a PK-M transcript in a cellcomprising contacting the cell with a compound according to any ofembodiments 1-75.

Embodiment 77

The method of embodiment 76, wherein the cell is in vitro.

Embodiment 78

The method of embodiment 76, wherein the cell is in an animal.

Embodiment 79

The method of any of embodiments 76-78, wherein inclusion of exon 9 isincreased.

Embodiment 80

The method of any of embodiments 76-78, wherein exclusion of exon 10 isincreased.

Embodiment 81

The method of any of embodiments 76-78, wherein inclusion of exon 10 isdecreased.

Embodiment 82

The method of any of embodiments 76-78, wherein PK-M1 mRNA expression isincreased.

Embodiment 83

The method of any of embodiments 76-78, wherein PK-M2 mRNA expression isdecreased.

Embodiment 84

A method of modulating the expression of PK-M in a cell, comprisingcontacting the cell with a compound according to any of embodiments1-75.

Embodiment 85

The method of embodiment 84, wherein PK-M1 expression is increased.

Embodiment 86

The method of embodiments 84 or 85, wherein PK-M2 expression isdecreased.

Embodiment 87

The method of embodiment 84, wherein the cell is in vitro.

Embodiment 88

The method of embodiment 84, wherein the cell is in an animal.

Embodiment 89

A method of inducing apoptosis in a cell, comprising contacting the cellwith a compound according to any of embodiments 1-75.

Embodiment 90

The method of embodiment 89, wherein the cell is in vitro.

Embodiment 91

The method of embodiment 89, wherein the cell is in an animal.

Embodiment 92

A method comprising administering the compound according to any ofembodiments 1-67 or the pharmaceutical composition of embodiments 74 or75 to an animal.

Embodiment 93

The method of embodiment 92, wherein the administration isintracerebroventricular.

Embodiment 94

The method of embodiment 92, wherein the administration is into thecentral nervous system.

Embodiment 95

The method of any of embodiments 92-94, wherein the animal has one ormore symptoms associated with cancer.

Embodiment 96

The method embodiment 95, wherein the cancer is glioblastoma.

Embodiment 97

The method of embodiment 96, wherein the administration results inamelioration of at least one symptom of cancer.

Embodiment 98

The method of any of embodiments 91-97, wherein the animal is a mouse.

Embodiment 99

The method of any of embodiments 91-97, wherein the animal is a human.

Embodiment 100

A method of preventing or retarding the growth of a cancerous tumor,comprising administering the compound according to any of embodiments1-73 or the pharmaceutical composition of embodiments 74 or 75 to ananimal in need thereof.

Embodiment 101

The method of embodiment 100, wherein the animal is a mouse.

Embodiment 102

The method of embodiment 100, wherein the animal is a human.

Embodiment 103

The method of embodiment 100 to 102, wherein the cancerous tumorcomprises glioblastoma.

Embodiment 104

Use of the compound according to any of embodiments 1-73 or thepharmaceutical composition of embodiments 74 or 75 for the preparationof a medicament for use in the treatment of cancer.

Embodiment 105

Use of the compound according to any of embodiments 1-73 or thepharmaceutical composition of embodiments 74 or 75 for the preparationof a medicament for use in the amelioration of one or more symptomscancer.

Embodiment 106

The use of embodiment 104 or 105, wherein the cancer is glioblastoma.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 a: Diagram of the PK-M genomic region. This region comprisesintrons 8, 9, and 10 (represented by the lines) and portions of exon 8,intact exons 9 and 10, and portions of exon 11 (represented by boxes).Numbers above the boxes show the length in nucleotides. cDNA ampliconsgenerated after radioactive RT-PCR are shown below and labeledaccordingly. Three spliced species were observed: the shorterdouble-skipped species, comprising only exons 8 and 11 (D, 271nucleotides); M1, including exon 9 (A, 398 nucleotides); and M2,including exon 10 (B, 398 nucleotides).

FIG. 1 b: Initial ASO walks. ASOs were transfected at 30 nM in HEK-293cells. Radioactive RT-PCR and restriction digest of endogenous PK-Mtranscripts are shown. The transfected ASO is indicated at the top. cDNAamplicons and fragments are indicated on the left. Lane numbers areindicated at the bottom.

FIG. 1 c: ASO microwalks. ASOs were transfected at 60 nM in HEK-293cells. Radioactive RT-PCR and restriction digest of endogenous PK-Mtranscripts are shown. The transfected ASO is indicated at the top. cDNAamplicons and fragments are indicated on the left. Lane numbers areindicated at the bottom.

FIG. 2 a: Scheme of method used to duplicate the exon 10 10 W regioninto exon 9 in a minigene. Minigene mutant names are indicated below.The indicated exon 9 nucleotides at the top were mutated to thecorresponding exon 10 sequences on the right. The ASOs that target 10 Wand flanking regions are indicated below.

FIG. 2 b: Mutant minigenes analyzed by transient transfection intoHEK-293 cells, followed by radioactive RT-PCR and restriction digest, asin FIG. 1. Constructs from FIG. 2 a are labeled at the top. The labeledbands are indicated in lower case on the left and right: uncut M1fragment (a, 481 nucleotide); uncut M2 fragment (b, 481 nucleotides);PstI-cleaved M2 5′ fragment (b2, 268 nucleotides); PstI-cleaved M2 3′fragment (b3, 213 nucleotides); a spliced mRNA that skips both exons 9and 10 (d, 314 nucleotides); an exon 9-exon 10 doubly-included mRNAexpressed from the 10B minigene (lanes 5 and 6) is indicated on the left(f, 648 nucleotides). This band is sensitive to PstI (fl, 435nucleotides).

FIG. 2 c: Wild-type minigene transcript level changes as a result of ASOco-transfection in HEK-293 cells. Labeled bands are indicated in lowercase on the left.

FIG. 2 d: Exon 10 duplication minigene transcript level changes as aresult of ASO co-transfection in HEK-293 cells. Labeled bands areindicated in lower case on the left.

FIG. 2 e: Alignment of the sequences of ISIS 461456, the complementaryregion in exon 10, and a homologous region in intron 9 is shown.Vertical lines show sequence identity. A diagram of the minigene mutantsis shown on the right.

FIG. 2 f: Minigene transcript level changes as a result of ASOco-transfection in HEK-293 cells. Labeled bands are indicated on theleft: uncut M1 fragment (a, 481 nucleotide); uncut M2 fragment (b, 481nucleotides); PstI-cleaved M2 5′ fragment (b2, 268 nucleotides);PstI-cleaved M2 3′ fragment (b3, 213 nucleotides); a spliced mRNA thatskips both exons 9 and 10 (d, 314 nucleotides).

FIG. 3 a: Effect of ISIS 549197, ISIS 461456, and ISIS 555158 onendogenous PK-M mRNAs in A172 and U87-MG glioblastoma cells.

FIG. 3 b: Immunoblot analysis of PK-M protein isoform levels in A172 andU87-MG glioblastoma cells transfected with ISIS 549197, ISIS 461456, orISIS 555158. Antibodies used are indicated on the left.

FIG. 3 c: Immunofluroescence staining of glioblastoma cells withantibodies directed against PK-M2. Cell lines were stained with PK-M2antibody and the DNA-binding fluorescent stain, DAPI.

FIG. 4: Immunoblot analysis of A172 cells transfected with ISIS 549197or control ASO. Antibodies used are indicated on the left.

FIG. 5 a: Flow cytometric analysis of A172 or U87-MG glioblastoma cellstransfected with the indicated ASOs and stained with AnnexinV-APC/7-AAD.

FIG. 5 b: Dose-dependent apoptosis in glioblastoma cells by ASOtreatment. Error bars represent s.d. (n=3).

FIG. 6 a: Immunoblot analysis of A172 cells stably transduced with rtTAand doxycycline-inducible human T7-tagged PK-M1 cDNA. Antibodies usedare indicated on the left.

FIG. 6 b: Immunoblot analysis of A172 and U87-MG cells stably transducedwith T7-tagged PK-M1 cDNA. Transduced cells and parental cell lines weretransfected with ASOs. Antibodies used are indicated on the left.

FIG. 6 c: Histogram analysis of cells grown as in FIG. 6 a andtransfected with the indicated ASOs. Doxycycline conditions are shown onthe left. Error bars represent s.d. (n=3).

FIG. 6 d: Histogram analysis of cells grown as in FIG. 6 b andtransfected with the indicated ASOs. Error bars represent s.d. (n=3).

FIG. 7: Immunoblot analysis of A172 cells independently transfected withfour different PK-M2 siRNAs. Antibodies used are indicated on the left.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Unless specific definitions are provided, the nomenclature used inconnection with, and the procedures and techniques of, analyticalchemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and medicinal and pharmaceuticalchemistry described herein are those well known and commonly used in theart. Standard techniques may be used for chemical synthesis, andchemical analysis. Certain such techniques and procedures may be foundfor example in “Carbohydrate Modifications in Antisense Research” Editedby Sangvi and Cook, American Chemical Society, Washington D.C., 1994;“Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences,” Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa.,21^(st) edition, 2005; and “Antisense Drug Technology, Principles,Strategies, and Applications” Edited by Stanley T. Crooke, CRC Press,Boca Raton, Fla.; and Sambrook et al., “Molecular Cloning, A laboratoryManual,” 2^(nd) Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989,which are hereby incorporated by reference for any purpose. Wherepermitted, all patents, applications, published applications and otherpublications and other data referred to throughout in the disclosure areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Unless otherwise indicated, the following terms have the followingmeanings:

As used herein, “nucleoside” means a compound comprising a nucleobasemoiety and a sugar moiety. Nucleosides include, but are not limited to,naturally occurring nucleosides (as found in DNA and RNA) and modifiednucleosides. Nucleosides may be linked to a phosphate moiety.

As used herein, “chemical modification” means a chemical difference in acompound when compared to a naturally occurring counterpart. Inreference to an oligonucleotide, chemical modification does not includedifferences only in nucleobase sequence. Chemical modifications ofoligonucleotides include nucleoside modifications (including sugarmoiety modifications and nucleobase modifications) and internucleosidelinkage modifications.

As used herein, “furanosyl” means a structure comprising a 5-memberedring comprising four carbon atoms and one oxygen atom.

As used herein, “naturally occurring sugar moiety” means a ribofuranosylas found in naturally occurring RNA or a deoxyribofuranosyl as found innaturally occurring DNA.

As used herein, “sugar moiety” means a naturally occurring sugar moietyor a modified sugar moiety of a nucleoside.

As used herein, “modified sugar moiety” means a substituted sugarmoiety, a bicyclic or tricyclic sugar moiety, or a sugar surrogate.

As used herein, “substituted sugar moiety” means a furanosyl comprisingat least one substituent group that differs from that of a naturallyoccurring sugar moiety. Substituted sugar moieties include, but are notlimited to furanosyls comprising substituents at the 2′-position, the3′-position, the 5′-position and/or the 4′-position.

As used herein, “2′-substituted sugar moiety” means a furanosylcomprising a substituent at the 2′-position other than H or OH. Unlessotherwise indicated, a 2′-substituted sugar moiety is not a bicyclicsugar moiety (i.e., the 2′-substituent of a 2′-substituted sugar moietydoes not form a bridge to another atom of the furanosyl ring.

As used herein, “MOE” means —OCH₂CH₂OCH₃.

As used herein, “bicyclic sugar moiety” means a modified sugar moietycomprising a 4 to 7 membered ring (including but not limited to afuranosyl) comprising a bridge connecting two atoms of the 4 to 7membered ring to form a second ring, resulting in a bicyclic structure.In certain embodiments, the 4 to 7 membered ring is a sugar ring. Incertain embodiments the 4 to 7 membered ring is a furanosyl. In certainsuch embodiments, the bridge connects the 2′-carbon and the 4′-carbon ofthe furanosyl.

As used herein the term “sugar surrogate” means a structure that doesnot comprise a furanosyl and that is capable of replacing the naturallyoccurring sugar moiety of a nucleoside, such that the resultingnucleoside is capable of (1) incorporation into an oligonucleotide and(2) hybridization to a complementary nucleoside. Such structures includerings comprising a different number of atoms than furanosyl (e.g., 4, 6,or 7-membered rings); replacement of the oxygen of a furanosyl with anon-oxygen atom (e.g., carbon, sulfur, or nitrogen); or both a change inthe number of atoms and a replacement of the oxygen. Such structures mayalso comprise substitutions corresponding to those described forsubstituted sugar moieties (e.g., 6-membered carbocyclic bicyclic sugarsurrogates optionally comprising additional substituents). Sugarsurrogates also include more complex sugar replacements (e.g., thenon-ring systems of peptide nucleic acid). Sugar surrogates includewithout limitation morpholino, modified morpholinos, cyclohexenyls andcyclohexitols.

As used herein, “nucleotide” means a nucleoside further comprising aphosphate linking group. As used herein, “linked nucleosides” may or maynot be linked by phosphate linkages and thus includes, but is notlimited to “linked nucleotides.” As used herein, “linked nucleosides”are nucleosides that are connected in a continuous sequence (i.e. noadditional nucleosides are present between those that are linked).

As used herein, “nucleobase” means a group of atoms that can be linkedto a sugar moiety to create a nucleoside that is capable ofincorporation into an oligonucleotide, and wherein the group of atoms iscapable of bonding with a complementary naturally occurring nucleobaseof another oligonucleotide or nucleic acid. Nucleobases may be naturallyoccurring or may be modified.

As used herein, “heterocyclic base” or “heterocyclic nucleobase” means anucleobase comprising a heterocyclic structure.

As used herein the terms, “unmodified nucleobase” or “naturallyoccurring nucleobase” means the naturally occurring heterocyclicnucleobases of RNA or DNA: the purine bases adenine (A) and guanine (G),and the pyrimidine bases thymine (T), cytosine (C) (including 5-methylC), and uracil (U).

As used herein, “modified nucleobase” means any nucleobase that is not anaturally occurring nucleobase.

As used herein, “modified nucleoside” means a nucleoside comprising atleast one chemical modification compared to naturally occurring RNA orDNA nucleosides. Modified nucleosides comprise a modified sugar moietyand/or a modified nucleobase.

As used herein, “bicyclic nucleoside” or “BNA” means a nucleosidecomprising a bicyclic sugar moiety.

As used herein, “constrained ethyl nucleoside” or “cEt” means anucleoside comprising a bicyclic sugar moiety comprising a4′-CH(CH₃)—O-2′bridge.

As used herein, “locked nucleic acid nucleoside” or “LNA” means anucleoside comprising a bicyclic sugar moiety comprising a4′-CH₂—O-2′bridge.

As used herein, “2′-substituted nucleoside” means a nucleosidecomprising a substituent at the 2′-position other than H or OH. Unlessotherwise indicated, a 2′-substituted nucleoside is not a bicyclicnucleoside.

As used herein, “2′-deoxynucleoside” means a nucleoside comprising 2′-Hfuranosyl sugar moiety, as found in naturally occurringdeoxyribonucleosides (DNA). In certain embodiments, a 2′-deoxynucleosidemay comprise a modified nucleobase or may comprise an RNA nucleobase(e.g., uracil).

As used herein, “oligonucleotide” means a compound comprising aplurality of linked nucleosides. In certain embodiments, anoligonucleotide comprises one or more unmodified ribonucleosides (RNA)and/or unmodified deoxyribonucleosides (DNA) and/or one or more modifiednucleosides.

As used herein “oligonucleoside” means an oligonucleotide in which noneof the internucleoside linkages contains a phosphorus atom. As usedherein, oligonucleotides include oligonucleosides.

As used herein, “modified oligonucleotide” means an oligonucleotidecomprising at least one modified nucleoside and/or at least one modifiedinternucleoside linkage.

As used herein “internucleoside linkage” means a covalent linkagebetween adjacent nucleosides in an oligonucleotide.

As used herein “naturally occurring internucleoside linkage” means a 3′to 5′ phosphodiester linkage.

As used herein, “modified internucleoside linkage” means anyinternucleoside linkage other than a naturally occurring internucleosidelinkage.

As used herein, “oligomeric compound” means a polymeric structurecomprising two or more sub-structures. In certain embodiments, anoligomeric compound comprises an oligonucleotide. In certainembodiments, an oligomeric compound comprises one or more conjugategroups and/or terminal groups. In certain embodiments, an oligomericcompound consists of an oligonucleotide.

As used herein, “terminal group” means one or more atom attached toeither, or both, the 3′ end or the 5′ end of an oligonucleotide. Incertain embodiments a terminal group is a conjugate group. In certainembodiments, a terminal group comprises one or more terminal groupnucleosides.

As used herein, “conjugate” means an atom or group of atoms bound to anoligonucleotide or oligomeric compound. In general, conjugate groupsmodify one or more properties of the compound to which they areattached, including, but not limited to pharmacodynamic,pharmacokinetic, binding, absorption, cellular distribution, cellularuptake, charge and/or clearance properties.

As used herein, “conjugate linking group” means any atom or group ofatoms used to attach a conjugate to an oligonucleotide or oligomericcompound.

As used herein, “antisense compound” means a compound comprising orconsisting of an oligonucleotide at least a portion of which iscomplementary to a target nucleic acid to which it is capable ofhybridizing, resulting in at least one antisense activity.

As used herein, “antisense activity” means any detectable and/ormeasurable change attributable to the hybridization of an antisensecompound to its target nucleic acid.

As used herein, “detecting” or “measuring” means that a test or assayfor detecting or measuring is performed. Such detection and/or measuringmay result in a value of zero. Thus, if a test for detection ormeasuring results in a finding of no activity (activity of zero), thestep of detecting or measuring the activity has nevertheless beenperformed.

As used herein, “detectable and/or measurable activity” means astatistically significant activity that is not zero.

As used herein, “essentially unchanged” means little or no change in aparticular parameter, particularly relative to another parameter whichchanges much more. In certain embodiments, a parameter is essentiallyunchanged when it changes less than 5%. In certain embodiments, aparameter is essentially unchanged if it changes less than two-foldwhile another parameter changes at least ten-fold. For example, incertain embodiments, an antisense activity is a change in the amount ofa target nucleic acid. In certain such embodiments, the amount of anon-target nucleic acid is essentially unchanged if it changes much lessthan the target nucleic acid does, but the change need not be zero.

As used herein, “expression” means the process by which a geneultimately results in a protein. Expression includes, but is not limitedto, transcription, post-transcriptional modification (e.g., splicing,polyadenlyation, addition of 5′-cap), and translation.

As used herein, “target nucleic acid” means a nucleic acid molecule towhich an antisense compound hybridizes.

As used herein, “mRNA” means an RNA molecule that encodes a protein.

As used herein, “pre-mRNA” means an RNA transcript that has not beenfully processed into mRNA. Pre-RNA includes one or more intron.

As used herein, “transcript” means an RNA molecule transcribed from DNA.Transcripts include, but are not limited to mRNA, pre-mRNA, andpartially processed RNA.

As used herein, “PK-M transcript” means a transcript transcribed from aPK-M gene. In certain embodiments, a PK-M transcript comprises SEQ IDNO: 1: the complement of GENBANK Accession No. NT_(—)010194.16 truncatedfrom nucleotides 43281289 to 43314403.

As used herein, “PK-M gene” means a gene that encodes a pyruvate kinaseM protein and any pyruvate kinase M protein isoforms. In certainembodiments, pyruvate kinase M protein isoforms include pyruvate kinaseM1 and pyruvate kinase M2. In certain embodiments, a pyruvate kinase Mgene is represented by GENBANK Accession No. NT_(—)010194.16 truncatedfrom nucleotides 43281289 to 43314403, or a variant thereof. In certainembodiments, a pyruvate kinase M gene is at least 95% identical toGENBANK Accession No. NT_(—)010194.16 truncated from nucleotides43281289 to 43314403. In certain embodiments, a pyruvate kinase M geneis at least 90% identical to GENBANK Accession No. NT_(—)010194.16truncated from nucleotides 43281289 to 43314403.

As used herein, “PK-M1” means a pyruvate kinase M transcript thatincludes exon 9 but does not include exon 10.

As used herein, “PK-M1 isoform” means a pyruvate kinase M proteinisoform that includes amino acids encoded from exon 9 but does notinclude amino acids encoded from exon 10.

As used herein, “PK-M2” means a pyruvate kinase M transcript thatincludes exon 10 but does not include exon 9.

As used herein, “PK-M2 isoform” means a pyruvate kinase M proteinisoform that includes amino acids encoded from exon 10 but does notinclude amino acids encoded from exon 9.

As used herein, “targeting” or “targeted to” means the association of anantisense compound to a particular target nucleic acid molecule or aparticular region of a target nucleic acid molecule. An antisensecompound targets a target nucleic acid if it is sufficientlycomplementary to the target nucleic acid to allow hybridization underphysiological conditions.

As used herein, “nucleobase complementarity” or “complementarity” whenin reference to nucleobases means a nucleobase that is capable of basepairing with another nucleobase. For example, in DNA, adenine (A) iscomplementary to thymine (T). For example, in RNA, adenine (A) iscomplementary to uracil (U). In certain embodiments, complementarynucleobase means a nucleobase of an antisense compound that is capableof base pairing with a nucleobase of its target nucleic acid. Forexample, if a nucleobase at a certain position of an antisense compoundis capable of hydrogen bonding with a nucleobase at a certain positionof a target nucleic acid, then the position of hydrogen bonding betweenthe oligonucleotide and the target nucleic acid is considered to becomplementary at that nucleobase pair. Nucleobases comprising certainmodifications may maintain the ability to pair with a counterpartnucleobase and thus, are still capable of nucleobase complementarity.

As used herein, “non-complementary” in reference to nucleobases means apair of nucleobases that do not form hydrogen bonds with one another.

As used herein, “complementary” in reference to oligomeric compounds(e.g., linked nucleosides, oligonucleotides, or nucleic acids) means thecapacity of such oligomeric compounds or regions thereof to hybridize toanother oligomeric compound or region thereof through nucleobasecomplementarity under stringent conditions. Complementary oligomericcompounds need not have nucleobase complementarity at each nucleoside.Rather, some mismatches are tolerated. In certain embodiments,complementary oligomeric compounds or regions are complementary at 70%of the nucleobases (70% complementary). In certain embodiments,complementary oligomeric compounds or regions are 80% complementary. Incertain embodiments, complementary oligomeric compounds or regions are90% complementary. In certain embodiments, complementary oligomericcompounds or regions are 95% complementary. In certain embodiments,complementary oligomeric compounds or regions are 100% complementary.

As used herein, “hybridization” means the pairing of complementaryoligomeric compounds (e.g., an antisense compound and its target nucleicacid). While not limited to a particular mechanism, the most commonmechanism of pairing involves hydrogen bonding, which may beWatson-Crick, Hoogsteen or reversed Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding, betweencomplementary nucleobases.

As used herein, “specifically hybridizes” means the ability of anoligomeric compound to hybridize to one nucleic acid site with greateraffinity than it hybridizes to another nucleic acid site. In certainembodiments, an antisense oligonucleotide specifically hybridizes tomore than one target site.

As used herein, “percent complementarity” means the percentage ofnucleobases of an oligomeric compound that are complementary to anequal-length portion of a target nucleic acid. Percent complementarityis calculated by dividing the number of nucleobases of the oligomericcompound that are complementary to nucleobases at correspondingpositions in the target nucleic acid by the total length of theoligomeric compound.

As used herein, “percent identity” means the number of nucleobases in afirst nucleic acid that are the same type (independent of chemicalmodification) as nucleobases at corresponding positions in a secondnucleic acid, divided by the total number of nucleobases in the firstnucleic acid.

As used herein, “modulation” means a change of amount or quality of amolecule, function, or activity when compared to the amount or qualityof a molecule, function, or activity prior to modulation. For example,modulation includes the change, either an increase (stimulation orinduction) or a decrease (inhibition or reduction) in gene expression.As a further example, modulation of expression can include a change insplice site selection of pre-mRNA processing, resulting in a change inthe absolute or relative amount of a particular splice-variant comparedto the amount in the absence of modulation.

As used herein, “motif” means a pattern of chemical modifications in anoligomeric compound or a region thereof. Motifs may be defined bymodifications at certain nucleosides and/or at certain linking groups ofan oligomeric compound.

As used herein, “nucleoside motif” means a pattern of nucleosidemodifications in an oligomeric compound or a region thereof. Thelinkages of such an oligomeric compound may be modified or unmodified.Unless otherwise indicated, motifs herein describing only nucleosidesare intended to be nucleoside motifs. Thus, in such instances, thelinkages are not limited.

As used herein, “sugar motif” means a pattern of sugar modifications inan oligomeric compound or a region thereof.

As used herein, “linkage motif” means a pattern of linkage modificationsin an oligomeric compound or region thereof. The nucleosides of such anoligomeric compound may be modified or unmodified. Unless otherwiseindicated, motifs herein describing only linkages are intended to belinkage motifs. Thus, in such instances, the nucleosides are notlimited.

As used herein, “nucleobase modification motif” means a pattern ofmodifications to nucleobases along an oligonucleotide. Unless otherwiseindicated, a nucleobase modification motif is independent of thenucleobase sequence.

As used herein, “sequence motif” means a pattern of nucleobases arrangedalong an oligonucleotide or portion thereof. Unless otherwise indicated,a sequence motif is independent of chemical modifications and thus mayhave any combination of chemical modifications, including no chemicalmodifications.

As used herein, “type of modification” in reference to a nucleoside or anucleoside of a “type” means the chemical modification of a nucleosideand includes modified and unmodified nucleosides. Accordingly, unlessotherwise indicated, a “nucleoside having a modification of a firsttype” may be an unmodified nucleoside.

As used herein, “differently modified” mean chemical modifications orchemical substituents that are different from one another, includingabsence of modifications. Thus, for example, a MOE nucleoside and anunmodified DNA nucleoside are “differently modified,” even though theDNA nucleoside is unmodified. Likewise, DNA and RNA are “differentlymodified,” even though both are naturally-occurring unmodifiednucleosides. Nucleosides that are the same but for comprising differentnucleobases are not differently modified. For example, a nucleosidecomprising a 2′-OMe modified sugar and an unmodified adenine nucleobaseand a nucleoside comprising a 2′-OMe modified sugar and an unmodifiedthymine nucleobase are not differently modified.

As used herein, “the same type of modifications” refers to modificationsthat are the same as one another, including absence of modifications.Thus, for example, two unmodified DNA nucleoside have “the same type ofmodification,” even though the DNA nucleoside is unmodified. Suchnucleosides having the same type modification may comprise differentnucleobases.

As used herein, “pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent” meansany substance suitable for use in administering to an animal. In certainembodiments, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent is sterilesaline. In certain embodiments, such sterile saline is pharmaceuticalgrade saline.

As used herein, “substituent” and “substituent group,” means an atom orgroup that replaces the atom or group of a named parent compound. Forexample a substituent of a modified nucleoside is any atom or group thatdiffers from the atom or group found in a naturally occurring nucleoside(e.g., a modified 2′-substituent is any atom or group at the 2′-positionof a nucleoside other than H or OH). Substituent groups can be protectedor unprotected. In certain embodiments, compounds of the presentinvention have substituents at one or at more than one position of theparent compound. Substituents may also be further substituted with othersubstituent groups and may be attached directly or via a linking groupsuch as an alkyl or hydrocarbyl group to a parent compound.

Likewise, as used herein, “substituent” in reference to a chemicalfunctional group means an atom or group of atoms differs from the atomor a group of atoms normally present in the named functional group. Incertain embodiments, a substituent replaces a hydrogen atom of thefunctional group (e.g., in certain embodiments, the substituent of asubstituted methyl group is an atom or group other than hydrogen whichreplaces one of the hydrogen atoms of an unsubstituted methyl group).Unless otherwise indicated, groups amenable for use as substituentsinclude without limitation, halogen, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl,acyl (—C(O)R_(aa)), carboxyl (—C(O)O—R_(aa)), aliphatic groups,alicyclic groups, alkoxy, substituted oxy (—O—R_(aa)), aryl, aralkyl,heterocyclic radical, heteroaryl, heteroarylalkyl, amino(—N(R_(bb))(R_(cc))), imino(═NR_(bb)), amido (—C(O)N(R_(bb))(R_(cc)) or—N(R_(bb))C(O)R_(aa)), azido (—N₃), nitro (—NO₂), cyano (—CN), carbamido(—OC(O)N(R_(bb))(R_(cc)) or —N(R_(bb))C(O)OR_(aa)), ureido(—N(R_(bb))C(O)N(R_(bb))(R_(cc))), thioureido(—N(R_(bb))C(S)N(R_(bb))—(R_(cc))), guanidinyl(—N(R_(bb))C(═NR_(bb))N(R_(bb))(R_(cc))), amidinyl(—C(═NR_(bb))N(R_(bb))(R_(cc)) or —N(R_(bb))C(═NR_(bb))(R_(aa))), thiol(—SR_(bb)), sulfinyl (—S(O)R_(bb)), sulfonyl (—S(O)₂R_(bb)) andsulfonamidyl (—S(O)₂N(R_(bb))(R_(cc)) or —N(R_(bb))S—(O)₂R_(bb)).Wherein each R_(aa), R_(bb) and R_(cc) is, independently, H, anoptionally linked chemical functional group or a further substituentgroup with a preferred list including without limitation, alkyl,alkenyl, alkynyl, aliphatic, alkoxy, acyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaryl,alicyclic, heterocyclic and heteroarylalkyl. Selected substituentswithin the compounds described herein are present to a recursive degree.

As used herein, “alkyl,” as used herein, means a saturated straight orbranched hydrocarbon radical containing up to twenty four carbon atoms.Examples of alkyl groups include without limitation, methyl, ethyl,propyl, butyl, isopropyl, n-hexyl, octyl, decyl, dodecyl and the like.Alkyl groups typically include from 1 to about 24 carbon atoms, moretypically from 1 to about 12 carbon atoms (C₁-C₁₂ alkyl) with from 1 toabout 6 carbon atoms being more preferred.

As used herein, “alkenyl,” means a straight or branched hydrocarbonchain radical containing up to twenty four carbon atoms and having atleast one carbon-carbon double bond. Examples of alkenyl groups includewithout limitation, ethenyl, propenyl, butenyl, 1-methyl-2-buten-1-yl,dienes such as 1,3-butadiene and the like. Alkenyl groups typicallyinclude from 2 to about 24 carbon atoms, more typically from 2 to about12 carbon atoms with from 2 to about 6 carbon atoms being morepreferred. Alkenyl groups as used herein may optionally include one ormore further substituent groups.

As used herein, “alkynyl,” means a straight or branched hydrocarbonradical containing up to twenty four carbon atoms and having at leastone carbon-carbon triple bond. Examples of alkynyl groups include,without limitation, ethynyl, 1-propynyl, 1-butynyl, and the like.Alkynyl groups typically include from 2 to about 24 carbon atoms, moretypically from 2 to about 12 carbon atoms with from 2 to about 6 carbonatoms being more preferred. Alkynyl groups as used herein may optionallyinclude one or more further substituent groups.

As used herein, “acyl,” means a radical formed by removal of a hydroxylgroup from an organic acid and has the general Formula —C(O)—X where Xis typically aliphatic, alicyclic or aromatic. Examples includealiphatic carbonyls, aromatic carbonyls, aliphatic sulfonyls, aromaticsulfinyls, aliphatic sulfinyls, aromatic phosphates, aliphaticphosphates and the like. Acyl groups as used herein may optionallyinclude further substituent groups.

As used herein, “alicyclic” means a cyclic ring system wherein the ringis aliphatic. The ring system can comprise one or more rings wherein atleast one ring is aliphatic. Preferred alicyclics include rings havingfrom about 5 to about 9 carbon atoms in the ring. Alicyclic as usedherein may optionally include further substituent groups.

As used herein, “aliphatic” means a straight or branched hydrocarbonradical containing up to twenty four carbon atoms wherein the saturationbetween any two carbon atoms is a single, double or triple bond.

An aliphatic group preferably contains from 1 to about 24 carbon atoms,more typically from 1 to about 12 carbon atoms with from 1 to about 6carbon atoms being more preferred. The straight or branched chain of analiphatic group may be interrupted with one or more heteroatoms thatinclude nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus. Such aliphatic groupsinterrupted by heteroatoms include without limitation, polyalkoxys, suchas polyalkylene glycols, polyamines, and polyimines Aliphatic groups asused herein may optionally include further substituent groups.

As used herein, “alkoxy” means a radical formed between an alkyl groupand an oxygen atom wherein the oxygen atom is used to attach the alkoxygroup to a parent molecule. Examples of alkoxy groups include withoutlimitation, methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, sec-butoxy,tert-butoxy, n-pentoxy, neopentoxy, n-hexoxy and the like. Alkoxy groupsas used herein may optionally include further substituent groups.

As used herein, “aminoalkyl” means an amino substituted C₁-C₁₂ alkylradical. The alkyl portion of the radical forms a covalent bond with aparent molecule. The amino group can be located at any position and theaminoalkyl group can be substituted with a further substituent group atthe alkyl and/or amino portions.

As used herein, “aralkyl” and “arylalkyl” mean an aromatic group that iscovalently linked to a C₁-C₁₂ alkyl radical. The alkyl radical portionof the resulting aralkyl (or arylalkyl) group forms a covalent bond witha parent molecule. Examples include without limitation, benzyl,phenethyl and the like. Aralkyl groups as used herein may optionallyinclude further substituent groups attached to the alkyl, the aryl orboth groups that form the radical group.

As used herein, “aryl” and “aromatic” mean a mono- or polycycliccarbocyclic ring system radicals having one or more aromatic rings.Examples of aryl groups include without limitation, phenyl, naphthyl,tetrahydronaphthyl, indanyl, idenyl and the like. Preferred aryl ringsystems have from about 5 to about 20 carbon atoms in one or more rings.Aryl groups as used herein may optionally include further substituentgroups.

As used herein, “halo” and “halogen,” mean an atom selected fromfluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.

As used herein, “heteroaryl,” and “heteroaromatic,” mean a radicalcomprising a mono- or polycyclic aromatic ring, ring system or fusedring system wherein at least one of the rings is aromatic and includesone or more heteroatoms. Heteroaryl is also meant to include fused ringsystems including systems where one or more of the fused rings containno heteroatoms. Heteroaryl groups typically include one ring atomselected from sulfur, nitrogen or oxygen. Examples of heteroaryl groupsinclude without limitation, pyridinyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrrolyl,pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, thiazolyl, oxazolyl, isooxazolyl, thiadiazolyl,oxadiazolyl, thiophenyl, furanyl, quinolinyl, isoquinolinyl,benzimidazolyl, benzooxazolyl, quinoxalinyl and the like. Heteroarylradicals can be attached to a parent molecule directly or through alinking moiety such as an aliphatic group or hetero atom. Heteroarylgroups as used herein may optionally include further substituent groups.

Oligomeric Compounds

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides oligomericcompounds. In certain embodiments, such oligomeric compounds compriseoligonucleotides optionally comprising one or more conjugate and/orterminal groups. In certain embodiments, an oligomeric compound consistsof an oligonucleotide. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides compriseone or more chemical modifications. Such chemical modifications includemodifications one or more nucleoside (including modifications to thesugar moiety and/or the nucleobase) and/or modifications to one or moreinternucleoside linkage.

Certain Sugar Moieties

In certain embodiments, oligomeric compounds of the invention compriseone or more modified nucleosides comprising a modified sugar moiety.Such oligomeric compounds comprising one or more sugar-modifiednucleosides may have desirable properties, such as enhanced nucleasestability or increased binding affinity with a target nucleic acidrelative to oligomeric compounds comprising only nucleosides comprisingnaturally occurring sugar moieties. In certain embodiments, modifiedsugar moieties are substituted sugar moieties. In certain embodiments,modified sugar moieties are bicyclic or tricyclic sugar moieties. Incertain embodiments, modified sugar moieties are sugar surrogates. Suchsugar surrogates may comprise one or more substitutions corresponding tothose of substituted sugar moieties.

In certain embodiments, modified sugar moieties are substituted sugarmoieties comprising one or more substituent, including but not limitedto substituents at the 2′ and/or 5′ positions. Examples of sugarsubstituents suitable for the 2′-position, include, but are not limitedto: 2′-F, 2′-OCH₃ (“OMe” or “O-methyl”), and 2′-O(CH₂)₂OCH₃ (“MOE”). Incertain embodiments, sugar substituents at the 2′ position is selectedfrom allyl, amino, azido, thio, O-allyl, O—C₁-C₁₀ alkyl, O—C₁-C₁₀substituted alkyl; O—C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; O—C₁-C₁₀ substituted alkoxy, OCF₃,O(CH₂)₂SCH₃, O(CH₂)₂—O—N(Rm)(Rn), and O—CH₂—C(═O)—N(Rm)(Rn), where eachRm and Rn is, independently, H or substituted or unsubstituted C₁-C₁₀alkyl. Examples of sugar substituents at the 5′-position, include, butare not limited to: 5′-methyl (R or S); 5′-vinyl, and 5′-methoxy. Incertain embodiments, substituted sugars comprise more than onenon-bridging sugar substituent, for example, 2′-F-5′-methyl sugarmoieties (see, e.g., PCT International Application WO 2008/101157, foradditional 5′,2′-bis substituted sugar moieties and nucleosides).

Nucleosides comprising 2′-substituted sugar moieties are referred to as2′-substituted nucleosides. In certain embodiments, a 2′-substitutednucleoside comprises a 2′-substituent group selected from halo, allyl,amino, azido, O—C₁-C₁₀ alkoxy; O—C₁-C₁₀ substituted alkoxy, SH, CN, OCN,CF₃, OCF₃, O-alkyl, S-alkyl, N(R_(m))-alkyl; O-alkenyl, S-alkenyl, orN(R_(m))-alkenyl; O-alkynyl, S-alkynyl, N(R_(m))-alkynyl;O-alkylenyl-O-alkyl, alkynyl, alkaryl, aralkyl, O-alkaryl, O-aralkyl,O(CH₂)₂SCH₃, O—(CH₂)₂—O—N(R_(m))(R_(n)) or O—CH₂—C(═O)—N(R_(m))(R_(n)),where each R_(m) and R_(n) is, independently, H, an amino protectinggroup or substituted or unsubstituted C₁-C₁₀ alkyl. These 2′-substituentgroups can be further substituted with one or more substituent groupsindependently selected from hydroxyl, amino, alkoxy, carboxy, benzyl,phenyl, nitro (NO₂), thiol, thioalkoxy (S-alkyl), halogen, alkyl, aryl,alkenyl and alkynyl.

In certain embodiments, a 2′-substituted nucleoside comprises a2′-substituent group selected from F, NH₂, N₃, OCF₃, O—CH₃, O(CH₂)₃NH₂,CH₂—CH═CH₂, O—CH₂—CH═CH₂, OCH₂CH₂OCH₃, O(CH₂)₂SCH₃,O—(CH₂)₂—O—N(R_(m))(R_(n)), O(CH₂)₂O(CH₂)₂N(CH₃)₂, and N-substitutedacetamide (O—CH₂—C(═O)—N(R_(m))(R_(n)) where each R_(m) and R_(n) is,independently, H, an amino protecting group or substituted orunsubstituted C₁-C₁₀ alkyl.

In certain embodiments, a 2′-substituted nucleoside comprises a sugarmoiety comprising a 2′-substituent group selected from F, OCF₃, O—CH₃,OCH₂CH₂OCH₃, O(CH₂)₂SCH₃, O—(CH₂)₂—O—N(CH₃)₂, —O(CH₂)₂O(CH₂)₂N(CH₃)₂,and O—CH₂—C(═O)—N(H)CH₃.

In certain embodiments, a 2′-substituted nucleoside comprises a sugarmoiety comprising a 2′-substituent group selected from F, O—CH₃, andOCH₂CH₂OCH₃.

Certain modified sugar moieties comprise a bridging sugar substituentthat forms a second ring resulting in a bicyclic sugar moiety. Incertain such embodiments, the bicyclic sugar moiety comprises a bridgebetween the 4′ and the 2′ furanose ring atoms. Examples of such 4′ to 2′sugar substituents, include, but are not limited to:—[C(R_(a))(R_(b))]_(n)—, —[C(R_(a))(R_(b))]_(n)—O—,—C(R_(a)R_(b))—N(R)—O— or, —C(R_(a)R_(b))—O—N(R)—; 4′-CH₂-2′,4′-(CH₂)₂-2′, 4′-(CH₂)₃-2′, 4′-(CH₂)—O-2′ (LNA); 4′-(CH₂)—S-2;4′-(CH₂)₂—O-2′ (ENA); 4′-CH(CH₃)—O-2′ (cEt) and 4′-CH(CH₂OCH₃)—O-2′, andanalogs thereof (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,845, issued on Jul. 15,2008); 4′-C(CH₃)(CH₃)—O-2′ and analogs thereof, (see, e.g.,WO2009/006478, published Jan. 8, 2009); 4′-CH₂—N(OCH₃)-2′ and analogsthereof (see, e.g., WO2008/150729, published Dec. 11, 2008);4′-CH₂—O—N(CH₃)-2′ (see, e.g., US2004/0171570, published Sep. 2, 2004);4′-CH₂—O—N(R)-2′, and 4′-CH₂—N(R)—O-2′-, wherein each R is,independently, H, a protecting group, or C₁-C₁₂ alkyl; 4′-CH₂—N(R)—O-2′,wherein R is H, C₁-C₁₂ alkyl, or a protecting group (see, U.S. Pat. No.7,427,672, issued on Sep. 23, 2008); 4′-CH₂—C(H)(CH₃)-2′ (see, e.g.,Chattopadhyaya, et al., J. Org. Chem., 2009, 74, 118-134); and4′-CH₂—C(═CH₂)-2′ and analogs thereof (see, published PCT InternationalApplication WO 2008/154401, published on Dec. 8, 2008).

In certain embodiments, such 4′ to 2′ bridges independently comprisefrom 1 to 4 linked groups independently selected from—[C(R_(a))(R_(b))]_(n)—, —C(R_(a))═C(R_(b))—, —C(R_(a))═N—,—C(═NR_(a))—, —C(═O)—, —C(═S)—, —O—, —Si(R_(a))₂—, —S(═O)_(x)—, and—N(R_(a))—;

wherein:

x is 0, 1, or 2;

n is 1, 2, 3, or 4;

each R_(a) and R_(b) is, independently, H, a protecting group, hydroxyl,C₁-C₁₂ alkyl, substituted C₁-C₁₂ alkyl, C₂-C₁₂ alkenyl, substitutedC₂-C₁₂ alkenyl, C₂-C₁₂ alkynyl, substituted C₂-C₁₂ alkynyl, C₅-C₂₀ aryl,substituted C₅-C₂₀ aryl, heterocycle radical, substituted heterocycleradical, heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, C₅-C₇ alicyclic radical,substituted C₅-C₇ alicyclic radical, halogen, OJ₁, NJ₁J₂, SJ₁, N₃,COOJ₁, acyl (C(═O)—H), substituted acyl, CN, sulfonyl (S(═O)₂-J₁), orsulfoxyl (S(═O)-J₁); and

each J₁ and J₂ is, independently, H, C₁-C₁₂ alkyl, substituted C₁-C₁₂alkyl, C₂-C₁₂ alkenyl, substituted C₂-C₁₂ alkenyl, C₂-C₁₂ alkynyl,substituted C₂-C₁₂ alkynyl, C₅-C₂₀ aryl, substituted C₅-C₂₀ aryl, acyl(C(═O)—H), substituted acyl, a heterocycle radical, a substitutedheterocycle radical, C₁-C₁₂ aminoalkyl, substituted C₁-C₁₂ aminoalkyl,or a protecting group.

Nucleosides comprising bicyclic sugar moieties are referred to asbicyclic nucleosides or BNAs. Bicyclic nucleosides include, but are notlimited to, (A) α-L-Methyleneoxy (4′-CH₂—O-2′) BNA, (B) β-D-Methyleneoxy(4′-CH₂—O-2′) BNA (also referred to as locked nucleic acid or LNA), (C)Ethyleneoxy (4′-(CH₂)₂—O-2′) BNA, (D) Aminooxy (4′-CH₂—O—N(R)-2′) BNA,(E) Oxyamino (4′-CH₂—N(R)—O-2′) BNA, (F) Methyl(methyleneoxy)(4′-CH(CH₃)—O-2′) BNA (also referred to as constrained ethyl or cEt),(G) methylene-thio(4′-CH₂—S-2′) BNA, (H) methylene-amino(4′-CH₂—N(R)-2′) BNA, (I) methyl carbocyclic (4′-CH₂—CH(CH₃)-2′) BNA,and (J) propylene carbocyclic (4′-(CH₂)₃-2′) BNA as depicted below.

wherein Bx is a nucleobase moiety and R is, independently, H, aprotecting group, or C₁-C₁₂ alkyl.

Additional bicyclic sugar moieties are known in the art, for example:Singh et al., Chem. Commun., 1998, 4, 455-456; Koshkin et al.,Tetrahedron, 1998, 54, 3607-3630; Wahlestedt et al., Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. U.S.A., 2000, 97, 5633-5638; Kumar et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem.Lett., 1998, 8, 2219-2222; Singh et al., J. Org. Chem., 1998, 63,10035-10039; Srivastava et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129(26) 8362-8379(Jul. 4, 2007); Elayadi et al., Curr. Opinion Invens. Drugs, 2001, 2,558-561; Braasch et al., Chem. Biol., 2001, 8, 1-7; Orum et al., Curr.Opinion Mol. Ther., 2001, 3, 239-243; U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,053,207,6,268,490, 6,770,748, 6,794,499, 7,034,133, 6,525,191, 6,670,461, and7,399,845; WO 2004/106356, WO 1994/14226, WO 2005/021570, and WO2007/134181; U.S. Patent Publication Nos. US2004/0171570,US2007/0287831, and US2008/0039618; U.S. patent Ser. Nos. 12/129,154,60/989,574, 61/026,995, 61/026,998, 61/056,564, 61/086,231, 61/097,787,and 61/099,844; and PCT International Applications Nos.PCT/US2008/064591, PCT/US2008/066154, and PCT/US2008/068922.

In certain embodiments, bicyclic sugar moieties and nucleosidesincorporating such bicyclic sugar moieties are further defined byisomeric configuration. For example, a nucleoside comprising a 4′-2′methylene-oxy bridge, may be in the α-L configuration or in the β-Dconfiguration. Previously, α-L-methyleneoxy (4′-CH₂—O-2′) bicyclicnucleosides have been incorporated into antisense oligonucleotides thatshowed antisense activity (Frieden et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 2003,21, 6365-6372).

In certain embodiments, substituted sugar moieties comprise one or morenon-bridging sugar substituent and one or more bridging sugarsubstituent (e.g., 5′-substituted and 4′-2′ bridged sugars). (see, PCTInternational Application WO 2007/134181, published on Nov. 22, 2007,wherein LNA is substituted with, for example, a 5′-methyl or a 5′-vinylgroup).

In certain embodiments, modified sugar moieties are sugar surrogates. Incertain such embodiments, the oxygen atom of the naturally occurringsugar is substituted, e.g., with a sulfur, carbon or nitrogen atom. Incertain such embodiments, such modified sugar moiety also comprisesbridging and/or non-bridging substituents as described above. Forexample, certain sugar surrogates comprise a 4′-sulfur atom and asubstitution at the 2′-position (see, e.g., published U.S. PatentApplication US2005/0130923, published on Jun. 16, 2005) and/or the 5′position. By way of additional example, carbocyclic bicyclic nucleosideshaving a 4′-2′ bridge have been described (see, e.g., Freier et al.,Nucleic Acids Research, 1997, 25(22), 4429-4443 and Albaek et al., J.Org. Chem., 2006, 71, 7731-7740).

In certain embodiments, sugar surrogates comprise rings having otherthan 5-atoms. For example, in certain embodiments, a sugar surrogatecomprises a six-membered tetrahydropyran. Such tetrahydropyrans may befurther modified or substituted. Nucleosides comprising such modifiedtetrahydropyrans include, but are not limited to, hexitol nucleic acid(HNA), anitol nucleic acid (ANA), manitol nucleic acid (MNA) (seeLeumann, C J. Bioorg. & Med. Chem. (2002) 10:841-854), fluoro HNA(F-HNA), and those compounds having Formula VII:

wherein independently for each of said at least one tetrahydropyrannucleoside analog of Formula VII:

Bx is a nucleobase moiety;

T₃ and T₄ are each, independently, an internucleoside linking grouplinking the tetrahydropyran nucleoside analog to the antisense compoundor one of T₃ and T₄ is an internucleoside linking group linking thetetrahydropyran nucleoside analog to the antisense compound and theother of T₃ and T₄ is H, a hydroxyl protecting group, a linked conjugategroup, or a 5′ or 3′-terminal group;

q₁, q₂, q₃, q₄, q₅, q₆ and q₇ are each, independently, H, C₁-C₆ alkyl,substituted C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₂-C₆ alkenyl, substituted C₂-C₆ alkenyl, C₂-C₆alkynyl, or substituted C₂-C₆ alkynyl; and each of R₁ and R₂ isindependently selected from among: hydrogen, halogen, substituted orunsubstituted alkoxy, NJ₁J₂, SJ₁, N₃, OC(═X)J₁, OC(═X)NJ₁J₂,NJ₃C(═X)NJ₁J₂, and CN, wherein X is O, S or NJ₁, and each J₁, J₂, and J₃is, independently, H or C₁-C₆ alkyl.

In certain embodiments, the modified THP nucleosides of Formula VII areprovided wherein q₁, q₂, q₃, q₄, q₅, q₆ and q₇ are each H. In certainembodiments, at least one of q₁, q₂, q₃, q₄, q₅, q₆ and q₇ is other thanH. In certain embodiments, at least one of q₁, q₂, q₃, q₄, q₅, q₆ and q₇is methyl. In certain embodiments, THP nucleosides of Formula VII areprovided wherein one of R₁ and R₂ is F. In certain embodiments, R₁ isfluoro and R₂ is H, R₁ is methoxy and R₂ is H, and R₁ is methoxyethoxyand R₂ is H.

Many other bicyclic and tricyclic sugar and sugar surrogate ring systemsare known in the art that can be used to modify nucleosides (see, e.g.,review article: Leumann, J. C, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2002,10, 841-854).

In certain embodiments, sugar surrogates comprise rings having more than5 atoms and more than one heteroatom. For example nucleosides comprisingmorpholino sugar moieties and their use in oligomeric compounds has beenreported (see for example: Braasch et al., Biochemistry, 2002, 41,4503-4510; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,685; 5,166,315; 5,185,444; and5,034,506). As used here, the term “morpholino” means a sugar surrogatehaving the following structure:

In certain embodiments, morpholinos may be modified, for example byadding or altering various substituent groups from the above morpholinostructure. Such sugar surrogates are referred to herein as “modifiedmorpholinos.”

Combinations of modifications are also provided without limitation, suchas 2′-F-5′-methyl substituted nucleosides (see PCT InternationalApplication WO 2008/101157 Published on Aug. 21, 2008 for otherdisclosed 5′,2′-bis substituted nucleosides) and replacement of theribosyl ring oxygen atom with S and further substitution at the2′-position (see published U.S. Patent Application US2005-0130923,published on Jun. 16, 2005) or alternatively 5′-substitution of abicyclic nucleic acid (see PCT International Application WO 2007/134181,published on Nov. 22, 2007 wherein a 4′-CH₂—O-2′ bicyclic nucleoside isfurther substituted at the 5′ position with a 5′-methyl or a 5′-vinylgroup). The synthesis and preparation of carbocyclic bicyclicnucleosides along with their oligomerization and biochemical studieshave also been described (see, e.g., Srivastava et al., J. Am. Chem.Soc. 2007, 129(26), 8362-8379).

Certain Nucleobases

In certain embodiments, nucleosides of the present invention compriseone or more unmodified nucleobases. In certain embodiments, nucleosidesof the present invention comprise one or more modified nucleobases.

In certain embodiments, modified nucleobases are selected from:universal bases, hydrophobic bases, promiscuous bases, size-expandedbases, and fluorinated bases as defined herein. 5-substitutedpyrimidines, 6-azapyrimidines and N-2, N-6 and 0-6 substituted purines,including 2-aminopropyladenine, 5-propynyluracil; 5-propynylcytosine;5-hydroxymethyl cytosine, xanthine, hypoxanthine, 2-aminoadenine,6-methyl and other alkyl derivatives of adenine and guanine, 2-propyland other alkyl derivatives of adenine and guanine, 2-thiouracil,2-thiothymine and 2-thiocytosine, 5-halouracil and cytosine, 5-propynyl(—C≡C—CH₃) uracil and cytosine and other alkynyl derivatives ofpyrimidine bases, 6-azo uracil, cytosine and thymine, 5-uracil(pseudouracil), 4-thiouracil, 8-halo, 8-amino, 8-thiol, 8-thioalkyl,8-hydroxyl and other 8-substituted adenines and guanines, 5-haloparticularly 5-bromo, 5-trifluoromethyl and other 5-substituted uracilsand cytosines, 7-methylguanine and 7-methyladenine, 2-F-adenine,2-amino-adenine, 8-azaguanine and 8-azaadenine, 7-deazaguanine and7-deazaadenine, 3-deazaguanine and 3-deazaadenine, universal bases,hydrophobic bases, promiscuous bases, size-expanded bases, andfluorinated bases as defined herein. Further modified nucleobasesinclude tricyclic pyrimidines such as phenoxazinecytidine([5,4-b][1,4]benzoxazin-2(3H)-one), phenothiazine cytidine(1H-pyrimido[5,4-b][1,4]benzothiazin-2(3H)-one), G-clamps such as asubstituted phenoxazine cytidine (e.g.9-(2-aminoethoxy)-H-pyrimido[5,4-b][1,4]benzoxazin-2(3H)-one), carbazolecytidine (2H-pyrimido[4,5-b]indol-2-one), pyridoindole cytidine(H-pyrido[3′,2′:4,5]pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-one). Modified nucleobasesmay also include those in which the purine or pyrimidine base isreplaced with other heterocycles, for example 7-deaza-adenine,7-deazaguanosine, 2-aminopyridine and 2-pyridone. Further nucleobasesinclude those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,808, those disclosed inThe Concise Encyclopedia Of Polymer Science And Engineering, Kroschwitz,J. I., Ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1990, 858-859; those disclosed byEnglisch et al., Angewandte Chemie, International Edition, 1991, 30,613; and those disclosed by Sanghvi, Y. S., Chapter 15, AntisenseResearch and Applications, Crooke, S. T. and Lebleu, B., Eds., CRCPress, 1993, 273-288.

Representative United States Patents that Teach the Preparation ofCertain of the Above Noted Modified nucleobases as well as othermodified nucleobases include without limitation, U.S. Pat. Nos.3,687,808; 4,845,205; 5,130,302; 5,134,066; 5,175,273; 5,367,066;5,432,272; 5,457,187; 5,459,255; 5,484,908; 5,502,177; 5,525,711;5,552,540; 5,587,469; 5,594,121; 5,596,091; 5,614,617; 5,645,985;5,681,941; 5,750,692; 5,763,588; 5,830,653 and 6,005,096, certain ofwhich are commonly owned with the instant application, and each of whichis herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Certain Internucleoside Linkages

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides oligomericcompounds comprising linked nucleosides. In such embodiments,nucleosides may be linked together using any internucleoside linkage.The two main classes of internucleoside linking groups are defined bythe presence or absence of a phosphorus atom. Representative phosphoruscontaining internucleoside linkages include, but are not limited to,phosphodiesters (P═O), phosphotriesters, methylphosphonates,phosphoramidate, and phosphorothioates (P═S). Representativenon-phosphorus containing internucleoside linking groups include, butare not limited to, methylenemethylimino (—CH₂—N(CH₃)—O—CH₂—),thiodiester (—O—C(O)—S—), thionocarbamate (—O—C(O)(NH)—S—); siloxane(—O—Si(H)₂—O—); and N,N′-dimethylhydrazine (—CH₂—N(CH₃)—N(CH₃)—).Modified linkages, compared to natural phosphodiester linkages, can beused to alter, typically increase, nuclease resistance of the oligomericcompound. In certain embodiments, internucleoside linkages having achiral atom can be prepared as a racemic mixture, or as separateenantiomers. Representative chiral linkages include, but are not limitedto, alkylphosphonates and phosphorothioates. Methods of preparation ofphosphorous-containing and non-phosphorous-containing internucleosidelinkages are well known to those skilled in the art.

The oligonucleotides described herein contain one or more asymmetriccenters and thus give rise to enantiomers, diastereomers, and otherstereoisomeric configurations that may be defined, in terms of absolutestereochemistry, as (R) or (S), a or β such as for sugar anomers, or as(D) or (L) such as for amino acids etc. Included in the antisensecompounds provided herein are all such possible isomers, as well astheir racemic and optically pure forms.

Neutral internucleoside linkages include without limitation,phosphotriesters, methylphosphonates, MMI (3′-CH₂—N(CH₃)—O-5′), amide-3(3′-CH₂—C(═O)—N(H)-5′), amide-4 (3′-CH₂—N(H)—C(═O)-5′), formacetal(3′-O—CH₂—O-5′), and thioformacetal (3′-S—CH₂—O-5′). Further neutralinternucleoside linkages include nonionic linkages comprising siloxane(dialkylsiloxane), carboxylate ester, carboxamide, sulfide, sulfonateester and amides (See for example: Carbohydrate Modifications inAntisense Research; Y. S. Sanghvi and P. D. Cook, Eds., ACS SymposiumSeries 580; Chapters 3 and 4, 40-65). Further neutral internucleosidelinkages include nonionic linkages comprising mixed N, O, S and CH₂component parts.

Certain Motifs

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides oligomericcompounds comprising oligonucleotides. In certain embodiments, sucholigonucleotides comprise one or more chemical modification. In certainembodiments, chemically modified oligonucleotides comprise one or moremodified nucleosides. In certain embodiments, chemically modifiedoligonucleotides comprise one or more modified nucleosides comprisingmodified sugars. In certain embodiments, chemically modifiedoligonucleotides comprise one or more modified nucleosides comprisingone or more modified nucleobases. In certain embodiments, chemicallymodified oligonucleotides comprise one or more modified internucleosidelinkages. In certain embodiments, the chemically modifications (sugarmodifications, nucleobase modifications, and/or linkage modifications)define a pattern or motif. In certain embodiments, the patterns ofchemical modifications of sugar moieties, internucleoside linkages, andnucleobases are each independent of one another. Thus, anoligonucleotide may be described by its sugar modification motif,internucleoside linkage motif and/or nucleobase modification motif (asused herein, nucleobase modification motif describes the chemicalmodifications to the nucleobases independent of the sequence ofnucleobases).

Certain Sugar Motifs

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise one or more type ofmodified sugar moieties and/or naturally occurring sugar moietiesarranged along an oligonucleotide or region thereof in a defined patternor sugar modification motif Such motifs may include any of the sugarmodifications discussed herein and/or other known sugar modifications.

In certain embodiments, the oligonucleotides comprise or consist of aregion having a gapmer sugar modification motif, which comprises twoexternal regions or “wings” and an internal region or “gap.” The threeregions of a gapmer motif (the 5′-wing, the gap, and the 3′-wing) form acontiguous sequence of nucleosides wherein at least some of the sugarmoieties of the nucleosides of each of the wings differ from at leastsome of the sugar moieties of the nucleosides of the gap. Specifically,at least the sugar moieties of the nucleosides of each wing that areclosest to the gap (the 3′-most nucleoside of the 5′-wing and the5′-most nucleoside of the 3′-wing) differ from the sugar moiety of theneighboring gap nucleosides, thus defining the boundary between thewings and the gap. In certain embodiments, the sugar moieties within thegap are the same as one another. In certain embodiments, the gapincludes one or more nucleoside having a sugar moiety that differs fromthe sugar moiety of one or more other nucleosides of the gap. In certainembodiments, the sugar modification motifs of the two wings are the sameas one another (symmetric gapmer). In certain embodiments, the sugarmodification motifs of the 5′-wing differs from the sugar modificationmotif of the 3′-wing (asymmetric gapmer). In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides comprise 2′-MOE modified nucleosides in the wings and2′-F modified nucleosides in the gap.

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides are fully modified. In certainsuch embodiments, oligonucleotides are uniformly modified. In certainembodiments, oligonucleotides are uniform 2′-MOE. In certainembodiments, oligonucleotides are uniform 2′-F. In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides are uniform morpholino. In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides are uniform BNA. In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides are uniform LNA. In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides are uniform cEt.

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise a uniformly modifiedregion and additional nucleosides that are unmodified or differentlymodified. In certain embodiments, the uniformly modified region is atleast 5, 10, 15, or 20 nucleosides in length. In certain embodiments,the uniform region is a 2′-MOE region. In certain embodiments, theuniform region is a 2′-F region. In certain embodiments, the uniformregion is a morpholino region. In certain embodiments, the uniformregion is a BNA region. In certain embodiments, the uniform region is aLNA region. In certain embodiments, the uniform region is a cEt region.

In certain embodiments, the oligonucleotide does not comprise more than4 contiguous unmodified 2′-deoxynucleosides. In certain circumstances,antisesense oligonucleotides comprising more than 4 contiguous2′-deoxynucleosides activate RNase H, resulting in cleavage of thetarget RNA. In certain embodiments, such cleavage is avoided by nothaving more than 4 contiguous 2′-deoxynucleosides, for example, wherealteration of splicing and not cleavage of a target RNA is desired.

Certain Internucleoside Linkage Motifs

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise modifiedinternucleoside linkages arranged along the oligonucleotide or regionthereof in a defined pattern or modified internucleoside linkage motif.In certain embodiments, internucleoside linkages are arranged in agapped motif, as described above for sugar modification motif. In suchembodiments, the internucleoside linkages in each of two wing regionsare different from the internucleoside linkages in the gap region. Incertain embodiments the internucleoside linkages in the wings arephosphodiester and the internucleoside linkages in the gap arephosphorothioate. The sugar modification motif is independentlyselected, so such oligonucleotides having a gapped internucleosidelinkage motif may or may not have a gapped sugar modification motif andif it does have a gapped sugar motif, the wing and gap lengths may ormay not be the same.

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise a region having analternating internucleoside linkage motif. In certain embodiments,oligonucleotides of the present invention comprise a region of uniformlymodified internucleoside linkages. In certain such embodiments, theoligonucleotide comprises a region that is uniformly linked byphosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. In certain embodiments, theoligonucleotide is uniformly linked by phosphorothioate. In certainembodiments, each internucleoside linkage of the oligonucleotide isselected from phosphodiester and phosphorothioate. In certainembodiments, each internucleoside linkage of the oligonucleotide isselected from phosphodiester and phosphorothioate and at least oneinternucleoside linkage is phosphorothioate.

In certain embodiments, the oligonucleotide comprises at least 6phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. In certain embodiments, theoligonucleotide comprises at least 8 phosphorothioate internucleosidelinkages. In certain embodiments, the oligonucleotide comprises at least10 phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. In certain embodiments,the oligonucleotide comprises at least one block of at least 6consecutive phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. In certainembodiments, the oligonucleotide comprises at least one block of atleast 8 consecutive phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. Incertain embodiments, the oligonucleotide comprises at least one block ofat least 10 consecutive phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. Incertain embodiments, the oligonucleotide comprises at least block of atleast one 12 consecutive phosphorothioate internucleoside linkages. Incertain such embodiments, at least one such block is located at the 3′end of the oligonucleotide. In certain such embodiments, at least onesuch block is located within 3 nucleosides of the 3′ end of theoligonucleotide.

Certain Nucleobase Modification Motifs

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise chemical modificationsto nucleobases arranged along the oligonucleotide or region thereof in adefined pattern or nucleobases modification motif. In certain suchembodiments, nucleobase modifications are arranged in a gapped motif. Incertain embodiments, nucleobase modifications are arranged in analternating motif. In certain embodiments, each nucleobase is modified.In certain embodiments, none of the nucleobases is chemically modified.

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides comprise a block of modifiednucleobases. In certain such embodiments, the block is at the 3′-end ofthe oligonucleotide. In certain embodiments the block is within 3nucleotides of the 3′-end of the oligonucleotide. In certain suchembodiments, the block is at the 5′-end of the oligonucleotide. Incertain embodiments the block is within 3 nucleotides of the 5′-end ofthe oligonucleotide.

In certain embodiments, nucleobase modifications are a function of thenatural base at a particular position of an oligonucleotide. Forexample, in certain embodiments each purine or each pyrimidine in anoligonucleotide is modified. In certain embodiments, each adenine ismodified. In certain embodiments, each guanine is modified. In certainembodiments, each thymine is modified. In certain embodiments, eachcytosine is modified. In certain embodiments, each uracil is modified.

In certain embodiments, some, all, or none of the cytosine moieties inan oligonucleotide are 5-methyl cytosine moieties. Herein, 5-methylcytosine is not a “modified nucleobase.” Accordingly, unless otherwiseindicated, unmodified nucleobases include both cytosine residues havinga 5-methyl and those lacking a 5 methyl. In certain embodiments, themethylation state of all or some cytosine nucleobases is specified.

Certain Overall Lengths

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides oligomericcompounds including oligonucleotides of any of a variety of ranges oflengths. In certain embodiments, the invention provides oligomericcompounds or oligonucleotides consisting of X to Y linked nucleosides,where X represents the fewest number of nucleosides in the range and Yrepresents the largest number of nucleosides in the range. In certainsuch embodiments, X and Y are each independently selected from 8, 9, 10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,47, 48, 49, and 50; provided that X≦Y. For example, in certainembodiments, the invention provides oligomeric compounds which compriseoligonucleotides consisting of 8 to 9, 8 to 10, 8 to 11, 8 to 12, 8 to13, 8 to 14, 8 to 15, 8 to 16, 8 to 17, 8 to 18, 8 to 19, 8 to 20, 8 to21, 8 to 22, 8 to 23, 8 to 24, 8 to 25, 8 to 26, 8 to 27, 8 to 28, 8 to29, 8 to 30, 9 to 10, 9 to 11, 9 to 12, 9 to 13, 9 to 14, 9 to 15, 9 to16, 9 to 17, 9 to 18, 9 to 19, 9 to 20, 9 to 21, 9 to 22, 9 to 23, 9 to24, 9 to 25, 9 to 26, 9 to 27, 9 to 28, 9 to 29, 9 to 30, 10 to 11, 10to 12, 10 to 13, 10 to 14, 10 to 15, 10 to 16, 10 to 17, 10 to 18, 10 to19, 10 to 20, 10 to 21, 10 to 22, 10 to 23, 10 to 24, 10 to 25, 10 to26, 10 to 27, 10 to 28, 10 to 29, 10 to 30, 11 to 12, 11 to 13, 11 to14, 11 to 15, 11 to 16, 11 to 17, 11 to 18, 11 to 19, 11 to 20, 11 to21, 11 to 22, 11 to 23, 11 to 24, 11 to 25, 11 to 26, 11 to 27, 11 to28, 11 to 29, 11 to 30, 12 to 13, 12 to 14, 12 to 15, 12 to 16, 12 to17, 12 to 18, 12 to 19, 12 to 20, 12 to 21, 12 to 22, 12 to 23, 12 to24, 12 to 25, 12 to 26, 12 to 27, 12 to 28, 12 to 29, 12 to 30, 13 to14, 13 to 15, 13 to 16, 13 to 17, 13 to 18, 13 to 19, 13 to 20, 13 to21, 13 to 22, 13 to 23, 13 to 24, 13 to 25, 13 to 26, 13 to 27, 13 to28, 13 to 29, 13 to 30, 14 to 15, 14 to 16, 14 to 17, 14 to 18, 14 to19, 14 to 20, 14 to 21, 14 to 22, 14 to 23, 14 to 24, 14 to 25, 14 to26, 14 to 27, 14 to 28, 14 to 29, 14 to 30, 15 to 16, 15 to 17, 15 to18, 15 to 19, 15 to 20, 15 to 21, 15 to 22, 15 to 23, 15 to 24, 15 to25, 15 to 26, 15 to 27, 15 to 28, 15 to 29, 15 to 30, 16 to 17, 16 to18, 16 to 19, 16 to 20, 16 to 21, 16 to 22, 16 to 23, 16 to 24, 16 to25, 16 to 26, 16 to 27, 16 to 28, 16 to 29, 16 to 30, 17 to 18, 17 to19, 17 to 20, 17 to 21, 17 to 22, 17 to 23, 17 to 24, 17 to 25, 17 to26, 17 to 27, 17 to 28, 17 to 29, 17 to 30, 18 to 19, 18 to 20, 18 to21, 18 to 22, 18 to 23, 18 to 24, 18 to 25, 18 to 26, 18 to 27, 18 to28, 18 to 29, 18 to 30, 19 to 20, 19 to 21, 19 to 22, 19 to 23, 19 to24, 19 to 25, 19 to 26, 19 to 29, 19 to 28, 19 to 29, 19 to 30, 20 to21, 20 to 22, 20 to 23, 20 to 24, 20 to 25, 20 to 26, 20 to 27, 20 to28, 20 to 29, 20 to 30, 21 to 22, 21 to 23, 21 to 24, 21 to 25, 21 to26, 21 to 27, 21 to 28, 21 to 29, 21 to 30, 22 to 23, 22 to 24, 22 to25, 22 to 26, 22 to 27, 22 to 28, 22 to 29, 22 to 30, 23 to 24, 23 to25, 23 to 26, 23 to 27, 23 to 28, 23 to 29, 23 to 30, 24 to 25, 24 to26, 24 to 27, 24 to 28, 24 to 29, 24 to 30, 25 to 26, 25 to 27, 25 to28, 25 to 29, 25 to 30, 26 to 27, 26 to 28, 26 to 29, 26 to 30, 27 to28, 27 to 29, 27 to 30, 28 to 29, 28 to 30, or 29 to 30 linkednucleosides. In embodiments where the number of nucleosides of anoligomeric compound or oligonucleotide is limited, whether to a range orto a specific number, the oligomeric compound or oligonucleotide may,nonetheless further comprise additional other substituents. For example,an oligonucleotide comprising 8-30 nucleosides excludes oligonucleotideshaving 31 nucleosides, but, unless otherwise indicated, such anoligonucleotide may further comprise, for example one or moreconjugates, terminal groups, or other substituents. In certainembodiments, a gapmer oligonucleotide has any of the above lengths.

One of skill in the art will appreciate that certain lengths may not bepossible for certain motifs. For example: a gapmer having a 5′-wingregion consisting of four nucleotides, a gap consisting of at least sixnucleotides, and a 3′-wing region consisting of three nucleotides cannothave an overall length less than 13 nucleotides. Thus, one wouldunderstand that the lower length limit is 13 and that the limit of 10 in“10-20” has no effect in that embodiment.

Further, where an oligonucleotide is described by an overall lengthrange and by regions having specified lengths, and where the sum ofspecified lengths of the regions is less than the upper limit of theoverall length range, the oligonucleotide may have additionalnucleosides, beyond those of the specified regions, provided that thetotal number of nucleosides does not exceed the upper limit of theoverall length range. For example, an oligonucleotide consisting of20-25 linked nucleosides comprising a 5′-wing consisting of 5 linkednucleosides; a 3′-wing consisting of 5 linked nucleosides and a centralgap consisting of 10 linked nucleosides (5+5+10=20) may have up to 5nucleosides that are not part of the 5′-wing, the 3′-wing, or the gap(before reaching the overall length limitation of 25). Such additionalnucleosides may be 5′ of the 5′-wing and/or 3′ of the 3′ wing.

Certain Oligonucleotides

In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides of the present invention arecharacterized by their sugar motif, internucleoside linkage motif,nucleobase modification motif and overall length. In certainembodiments, such parameters are each independent of one another. Thus,each internucleoside linkage of an oligonucleotide having a gapmer sugarmotif may be modified or unmodified and may or may not follow the gapmermodification pattern of the sugar modifications. Thus, theinternucleoside linkages within the wing regions of a sugar-gapmer maybe the same or different from one another and may be the same ordifferent from the internucleoside linkages of the gap region. Likewise,such sugar-gapmer oligonucleotides may comprise one or more modifiednucleobase independent of the gapmer pattern of the sugar modifications.Herein if a description of an oligonucleotide or oligomeric compound issilent with respect to one or more parameter, such parameter is notlimited. Thus, an oligomeric compound described only as having a gapmersugar motif without further description may have any length,internucleoside linkage motif, and nucleobase modification motif. Unlessotherwise indicated, all chemical modifications are independent ofnucleobase sequence.

Certain Conjugate Groups

In certain embodiments, oligomeric compounds are modified by attachmentof one or more conjugate groups. In general, conjugate groups modify oneor more properties of the attached oligomeric compound including but notlimited to pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, stability, binding,absorption, cellular distribution, cellular uptake, charge andclearance. Conjugate groups are routinely used in the chemical arts andare linked directly or via an optional conjugate linking moiety orconjugate linking group to a parent compound such as an oligomericcompound, such as an oligonucleotide. Conjugate groups includes withoutlimitation, intercalators, reporter molecules, polyamines, polyamides,polyethylene glycols, thioethers, polyethers, cholesterols,thiocholesterols, cholic acid moieties, folate, lipids, phospholipids,biotin, phenazine, phenanthridine, anthraquinone, adamantane, acridine,fluoresceins, rhodamines, coumarins and dyes. Certain conjugate groupshave been described previously, for example: cholesterol moiety(Letsinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1989, 86, 6553-6556),cholic acid (Manoharan et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Let., 1994, 4,1053-1060), a thioether, e.g., hexyl-S-tritylthiol (Manoharan et al.,Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1992, 660, 306-309; Manoharan et al., Bioorg. Med.Chem. Let., 1993, 3, 2765-2770), a thiocholesterol (Oberhauser et al.,Nucl. Acids Res., 1992, 20, 533-538), an aliphatic chain, e.g.,do-decan-diol or undecyl residues (Saison-Behmoaras et al., EMBO J.,1991, 10, 1111-1118; Kabanov et al., FEBS Lett., 1990, 259, 327-330;Svinarchuk et al., Biochimie, 1993, 75, 49-54), a phospholipid, e.g.,di-hexadecyl-rac-glycerol or triethyl-ammonium1,2-di-O-hexadecyl-rac-glycero-3-H-phosphonate (Manoharan et al.,Tetrahedron Lett., 1995, 36, 3651-3654; Shea et al., Nucl. Acids Res.,1990, 18, 3777-3783), a polyamine or a polyethylene glycol chain(Manoharan et al., Nucleosides & Nucleotides, 1995, 14, 969-973), oradamantane acetic acid (Manoharan et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1995, 36,3651-3654), a palmityl moiety (Mishra et al., Biochim Biophys. Acta,1995, 1264, 229-237), or an octadecylamine orhexylamino-carbonyl-oxycholesterol moiety (Crooke et al., J. Pharmacol.Exp. Ther., 1996, 277, 923-937).

In certain embodiments, a conjugate group comprises an active drugsubstance, for example, aspirin, warfarin, phenylbutazone, ibuprofen,suprofen, fen-bufen, ketoprofen, (S)-(+)-pranoprofen, carprofen,dansylsarcosine, 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid, flufenamic acid, folinicacid, a benzothiadiazide, chlorothiazide, a diazepine, indo-methicin, abarbiturate, a cephalosporin, a sulfa drug, an antidiabetic, anantibacterial or an antibiotic.

In certain embodiments, conjugate groups are directly attached tooligonucleotides in oligomeric compounds. In certain embodiments,conjugate groups are attached to oligonucleotides by a conjugate linkinggroup. In certain such embodiments, conjugate linking groups, including,but not limited to, bifunctional linking moieties such as those known inthe art are amenable to the compounds provided herein. Conjugate linkinggroups are useful for attachment of conjugate groups, such as chemicalstabilizing groups, functional groups, reporter groups and other groupsto selective sites in a parent compound such as for example anoligomeric compound. In general a bifunctional linking moiety comprisesa hydrocarbyl moiety having two functional groups. One of the functionalgroups is selected to bind to a parent molecule or compound of interestand the other is selected to bind essentially any selected group such aschemical functional group or a conjugate group. In some embodiments, theconjugate linker comprises a chain structure or an oligomer of repeatingunits such as ethylene glycol or amino acid units. Examples offunctional groups that are routinely used in a bifunctional linkingmoiety include, but are not limited to, electrophiles for reacting withnucleophilic groups and nucleophiles for reacting with electrophilicgroups. In some embodiments, bifunctional linking moieties includeamino, hydroxyl, carboxylic acid, thiol, unsaturations (e.g., double ortriple bonds), and the like.

Some nonlimiting examples of conjugate linking moieties includepyrrolidine, 8-amino-3,6-dioxaoctanoic acid (ADO), succinimidyl4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate (SMCC) and6-aminohexanoic acid (AHEX or AHA). Other linking groups include, butare not limited to, substituted C₁-C₁₀ alkyl, substituted orunsubstituted C₂-C₁₀ alkenyl or substituted or unsubstituted C₂-C₁₀alkynyl, wherein a nonlimiting list of preferred substituent groupsincludes hydroxyl, amino, alkoxy, carboxy, benzyl, phenyl, nitro, thiol,thioalkoxy, halogen, alkyl, aryl, alkenyl and alkynyl.

Conjugate groups may be attached to either or both ends of anoligonucleotide (terminal conjugate groups) and/or at any internalposition.

In certain embodiments, conjugate groups are at the 3′-end of anoligonucleotide of an oligomeric compound. In certain embodiments,conjugate groups are near the 3′-end. In certain embodiments, conjugatesare attached at the 3′end of an oligomeric compound, but before one ormore terminal group nucleosides. In certain embodiments, conjugategroups are placed within a terminal group.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides oligomericcompounds. In certain embodiments, oligomeric compounds comprise anoligonucleotide. In certain embodiments, an oligomeric compoundcomprises an oligonucleotide and one or more conjugate and/or terminalgroups. Such conjugate and/or terminal groups may be added tooligonucleotides having any of the chemical motifs discussed above.Thus, for example, an oligomeric compound comprising an oligonucleotidehaving region of alternating nucleosides may comprise a terminal group.

Antisense Compounds

In certain embodiments, oligomeric compounds of the present inventionare antisense compounds. Such antisense compounds are capable ofhybridizing to a target nucleic acid, resulting in at least oneantisense activity. In certain embodiments, antisense compoundsspecifically hybridize to one or more target nucleic acid. In certainembodiments, a specifically hybridizing antisense compound has anucleobase sequence comprising a region having sufficientcomplementarity to a target nucleic acid to allow hybridization andresult in antisense activity and insufficient complementarity to anynon-target so as to avoid non-specific hybridization to any non-targetnucleic acid sequences under conditions in which specific hybridizationis desired (e.g., under physiological conditions for in vivo ortherapeutic uses, and under conditions in which assays are performed inthe case of in vitro assays).

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides antisensecompounds comprising oligonucleotides that are fully complementary tothe target nucleic acid over the entire length of the oligonucleotide.In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides are 99% complementary to thetarget nucleic acid. In certain embodiments, oligonucleotides are 95%complementary to the target nucleic acid. In certain embodiments, sucholigonucleotides are 90% complementary to the target nucleic acid.

In certain embodiments, such oligonucleotides are 85% complementary tothe target nucleic acid. In certain embodiments, such oligonucleotidesare 80% complementary to the target nucleic acid. In certainembodiments, an antisense compound comprises a region that is fullycomplementary to a target nucleic acid and is at least 80% complementaryto the target nucleic acid over the entire length of theoligonucleotide. In certain such embodiments, the region of fullcomplementarity is from 6 to 14 nucleobases in length.

In certain embodiments antisense compounds and antisenseoligonucleotides comprise single-strand compounds. In certainembodiments antisense compounds and antisense oligonucleotides comprisedouble-strand compounds.

Certain Pathways and Mechanisms Associated with Cancer

Many cancer cells preferentially use the glycolytic pathway with lactategeneration to produce energy, even under normal oxygen conditions. Thismetabolic feature of cancer is termed the Warburg effect. In certainembodiments, PK-M2 mediates the Warburg effect. In certain embodiments,expression of PK-M2 is crucial for tumor cell growth and proliferation.

In certain embodiments, reducing expression of PK-M2 inhibits cancergrowth. In certain embodiments, reducing expression of PK-M2 inducesapoptosis in a cell. In certain embodiments, the cell is a cancer cell.In certain embodiments, the cell is a tumor cell. In certainembodiments, the cell is a glioblastoma cell.

In certain embodiments, increasing inclusion of exon 9 of a PK-Mtranscript inhibits cancer growth. In certain embodiments, increasingexclusion of exon 10 of a PK-M transcript inhibits cancer growth. Incertain embodiments, increasing inclusion of exon 9 of a PK-M transcriptinduces apoptosis in a cell. In certain embodiments, increasingexclusion of exon 10 of a PK-M transcript induces apoptosis in a cell.In certain embodiments, the cell is a cancer cell. In certainembodiments, the cell is a tumor cell. In certain embodiments, the cellis a glioblastoma cell. In certain embodiments, the downregulation ofPK-M2 leads to apoptosis in certain cancer cells. In certainembodiments, the downregulation of PK-M2 leads to apoptosis in certainglioblastoma cell lines.

In certain embodiments, PK-M2 also functions as a co-activator of HIF-1and/or β-catenin. In certain embodiments, reducing expression of PK-M2,as opposed to inhibiting its kinase function, interferes withanti-apoptotic and pro-proliferative functions associated with cancer ortumor cells. In certain embodiments, one or more antisense compounds maybe used to target a PK-M2.

In certain embodiments, the administration of a modified oligonucleotidecauses a switch in the alternative splicing of the PK-M transcript. Incertain embodiments, the administration of a modified oligonucleotidecauses increased inclusion of exon 9 mRNA of the PK-M transcript. Incertain embodiments, the administration of a modified oligonucleotidecauses an increase in the exclusion of exon 10 mRNA of the PK-Mtranscript. In certain embodiments, the administration of a modifiedoligonucleotide reduces expression of PK-M2 in a cell. In certainembodiments, the administration of a modified oligonucleotide reducesexpression of PK-M2 in a cell and inhibits cancer growth. In certainembodiments, the administration of a modified oligonucleotide reducesexpression of PK-M2 and induces apoptosis in a cell. In certainembodiments, the cell is a cancer cell. In certain embodiments, the cellis a tumor cell. In certain embodiments, the cell is a glioblastomacell.

Certain Target Nucleic Acids and Mechanisms

In certain embodiments, antisense compounds comprise or consist of anoligonucleotide comprising a region that is complementary to a targetnucleic acid. In certain embodiments, the target nucleic acid is anendogenous RNA molecule. In certain embodiments, the target nucleic acidis a pre-mRNA. In certain embodiments, the target nucleic acid is a PK-Mtranscript. In certain embodiments, the target RNA is a PK-M pre-mRNA.

In certain embodiments, an antisense compound is complementary to aregion of PK-M pre-mRNA. In certain embodiments, an antisense compoundis complementary within a region of PK-M pre-mRNA comprising an exonencoding PK-M2. In certain embodiments, an antisense compound iscomplementary to a region of PK-M pre-mRNA comprising an intron-exonsplice junction. In certain embodiments, an antisense compound iscomplementary to a region of PK-M pre-mRNA comprising the intron-exonsplice junction adjacent to exon 10. In certain embodiments, anantisense compound is complementary within a region of PK-M pre-mRNAconsisting of exon 10. In certain embodiments, an antisense compound iscomplementary within a region of PK-M pre-mRNA comprising an exonicsplicing silencer within an exon 10. In certain embodiments, anantisense compound is complementary within a region of PK-M pre-mRNAcomprising an exonic splicing enhancer within exon 10. In certainembodiments, an antisense compound is complementary within a region ofPK-M pre-mRNA comprising an exonic splicing silencer within an exon 9.In certain embodiments, an antisense compound is complementary within aregion of PK-M pre-mRNA comprising an exonic splicing enhancer withinexon 9.

In certain embodiments, an antisense compound comprises a modifiedoligonucleotide consisting of 8 to 30 linked nucleosides and having anucleobase sequence comprising a complementary region comprising atleast 8 contiguous nucleobases complementary to a target region of equallength of a PK-M transcript. In certain embodiments, the target regionis within nucleobase 29153 and nucleobase 29281 of SEQ ID NO.: 1. Incertain embodiments, the target region is within nucleobase 29158 andnucleobase 29262 of SEQ ID NO.: 1. In certain embodiments, the targetregion is within nucleobase 29164 and nucleobase 29188 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.In certain embodiments, the target region is within nucleobase 29261 andnucleobase 29279 of SEQ ID NO.: 1. In certain embodiments, the targetregion is within nucleobase 29168 and nucleobase 29183 of SEQ ID NO.: 1.

In certain embodiments, an antisense oligonucleotide modulates splicingof a pre-mRNA. In certain embodiments, an antisense oligonucleotidemodulates splicing a PK-M pre-mRNA. In certain embodiments, an antisenseoligonucleotide increases the amount of PK-M mRNA. In certainembodiments, an antisense oligonucleotide increases the inclusion ofexon 9 in PK-M mRNA. In certain embodiments, an antisenseoligonucleotide decreases the inclusion of exon 10 in PK-M mRNA. Incertain embodiments, an antisense oligonucleotide increases the amountof PK-M1 mRNA. In certain embodiments, an antisense oligonucleotidedecreases the amount of PK-M2 mRNA.

In certain embodiments it is desirable to alter the splicing of PK-Mpre-mRNA to include exon 9 and exclude exon 10. By altering the splicingof PK-M pre-mRNA to include exon 9 and exclude exon 10, expression ofPK-M1 will increase and expression of PK-M2 will decrease. In certainembodiments it is desirable to alter the splicing of PK-M pre-mRNA todecrease expression of PK-M2.

Certain Pharmaceutical Compositions

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides pharmaceuticalcompositions comprising one or more antisense compound. In certainembodiments, such pharmaceutical composition comprises a suitablepharmaceutically acceptable diluent or carrier. In certain embodiments,a pharmaceutical composition comprises a sterile saline solution and oneor more antisense compound. In certain embodiments, such pharmaceuticalcomposition consists of a sterile saline solution and one or moreantisense compound. In certain embodiments, the sterile saline ispharmaceutical grade saline. In certain embodiments, a pharmaceuticalcomposition comprises one or more antisense compound and sterile water.In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition consists of one ormore antisense compound and sterile water. In certain embodiments, thesterile saline is pharmaceutical grade water. In certain embodiments, apharmaceutical composition comprises one or more antisense compound andphosphate-buffered saline (PBS). In certain embodiments, apharmaceutical composition consists of one or more antisense compoundand sterile phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). In certain embodiments, thesterile saline is pharmaceutical grade PBS.

In certain embodiments, antisense compounds may be admixed withpharmaceutically acceptable active and/or inert substances for thepreparation of pharmaceutical compositions or formulations. Compositionsand methods for the formulation of pharmaceutical compositions depend ona number of criteria, including, but not limited to, route ofadministration, extent of disease, or dose to be administered.

Pharmaceutical compositions comprising antisense compounds encompass anypharmaceutically acceptable salts, esters, or salts of such esters. Incertain embodiments, pharmaceutical compositions comprising antisensecompounds comprise one or more oligonucleotide which, uponadministration to an animal, including a human, is capable of providing(directly or indirectly) the biologically active metabolite or residuethereof. Accordingly, for example, the disclosure is also drawn topharmaceutically acceptable salts of antisense compounds, prodrugs,pharmaceutically acceptable salts of such prodrugs, and otherbioequivalents. Suitable pharmaceutically acceptable salts include, butare not limited to, sodium and potassium salts.

A prodrug can include the incorporation of additional nucleosides at oneor both ends of an oligomeric compound which are cleaved by endogenousnucleases within the body, to form the active antisense oligomericcompound.

Lipid moieties have been used in nucleic acid therapies in a variety ofmethods. In certain such methods, the nucleic acid is introduced intopreformed liposomes or lipoplexes made of mixtures of cationic lipidsand neutral lipids. In certain methods, DNA complexes with mono- orpoly-cationic lipids are formed without the presence of a neutral lipid.In certain embodiments, a lipid moiety is selected to increasedistribution of a pharmaceutical agent to a particular cell or tissue.In certain embodiments, a lipid moiety is selected to increasedistribution of a pharmaceutical agent to fat tissue. In certainembodiments, a lipid moiety is selected to increase distribution of apharmaceutical agent to muscle tissue.

In certain embodiments, pharmaceutical compositions provided hereincomprise one or more modified oligonucleotides and one or moreexcipients. In certain such embodiments, excipients are selected fromwater, salt solutions, alcohol, polyethylene glycols, gelatin, lactose,amylase, magnesium stearate, talc, silicic acid, viscous paraffin,hydroxymethylcellulose and polyvinylpyrrolidone.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition provided hereincomprises a delivery system. Examples of delivery systems include, butare not limited to, liposomes and emulsions. Certain delivery systemsare useful for preparing certain pharmaceutical compositions includingthose comprising hydrophobic compounds. In certain embodiments, certainorganic solvents such as dimethylsulfoxide are used.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition provided hereincomprises one or more tissue-specific delivery molecules designed todeliver the one or more pharmaceutical agents of the present inventionto specific tissues or cell types. For example, in certain embodiments,pharmaceutical compositions include liposomes coated with atissue-specific antibody.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition provided hereincomprises a co-solvent system. Certain of such co-solvent systemscomprise, for example, benzyl alcohol, a nonpolar surfactant, awater-miscible organic polymer, and an aqueous phase. In certainembodiments, such co-solvent systems are used for hydrophobic compounds.A non-limiting example of such a co-solvent system is the VPD co-solventsystem, which is a solution of absolute ethanol comprising 3% w/v benzylalcohol, 8% w/v of the nonpolar surfactant Polysorbate 80™ and 65% w/vpolyethylene glycol 300. The proportions of such co-solvent systems maybe varied considerably without significantly altering their solubilityand toxicity characteristics. Furthermore, the identity of co-solventcomponents may be varied: for example, other surfactants may be usedinstead of Polysorbate 80™; the fraction size of polyethylene glycol maybe varied; other biocompatible polymers may replace polyethylene glycol,e.g., polyvinyl pyrrolidone; and other sugars or polysaccharides maysubstitute for dextrose.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition provided herein isprepared for oral administration. In certain embodiments, pharmaceuticalcompositions are prepared for buccal administration.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition is prepared foradministration by injection (e.g., intravenous, subcutaneous,intramuscular, etc.). In certain of such embodiments, a pharmaceuticalcomposition comprises a carrier and is formulated in aqueous solution,such as water or physiologically compatible buffers such as Hanks'ssolution, Ringer's solution, or physiological saline buffer. In certainembodiments, other ingredients are included (e.g., ingredients that aidin solubility or serve as preservatives). In certain embodiments,injectable suspensions are prepared using appropriate liquid carriers,suspending agents and the like. Certain pharmaceutical compositions forinjection are presented in unit dosage form, e.g., in ampoules or inmulti-dose containers. Certain pharmaceutical compositions for injectionare suspensions, solutions or emulsions in oily or aqueous vehicles, andmay contain formulatory agents such as suspending, stabilizing and/ordispersing agents. Certain solvents suitable for use in pharmaceuticalcompositions for injection include, but are not limited to, lipophilicsolvents and fatty oils, such as sesame oil, synthetic fatty acidesters, such as ethyl oleate or triglycerides, and liposomes. Aqueousinjection suspensions may contain substances that increase the viscosityof the suspension, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, sorbitol, ordextran. Optionally, such suspensions may also contain suitablestabilizers or agents that increase the solubility of the pharmaceuticalagents to allow for the preparation of highly concentrated solutions.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition is prepared fortransmucosal administration. In certain of such embodiments penetrantsappropriate to the barrier to be permeated are used in the formulation.Such penetrants are generally known in the art.

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition provided hereincomprises an oligonucleotide in a therapeutically effective amount. Incertain embodiments, the therapeutically effective amount is sufficientto prevent, alleviate or ameliorate symptoms of a disease or to prolongthe survival of the subject being treated. Determination of atherapeutically effective amount is well within the capability of thoseskilled in the art.

In certain embodiments, one or more modified oligonucleotide providedherein is formulated as a prodrug. In certain embodiments, upon in vivoadministration, a prodrug is chemically converted to the biologically,pharmaceutically or therapeutically more active form of anoligonucleotide. In certain embodiments, prodrugs are useful becausethey are easier to administer than the corresponding active form. Forexample, in certain instances, a prodrug may be more bioavailable (e.g.,through oral administration) than is the corresponding active form. Incertain instances, a prodrug may have improved solubility compared tothe corresponding active form. In certain embodiments, prodrugs are lesswater soluble than the corresponding active form. In certain instances,such prodrugs possess superior transmittal across cell membranes, wherewater solubility is detrimental to mobility. In certain embodiments, aprodrug is an ester.

In certain such embodiments, the ester is metabolically hydrolyzed tocarboxylic acid upon administration. In certain instances the carboxylicacid containing compound is the corresponding active form. In certainembodiments, a prodrug comprises a short peptide (polyaminoacid) boundto an acid group. In certain of such embodiments, the peptide is cleavedupon administration to form the corresponding active form.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides compositions andmethods for reducing the amount or activity of a target nucleic acid ina cell. In certain embodiments, the cell is in an animal. In certainembodiments, the animal is a mammal. In certain embodiments, the animalis a rodent. In certain embodiments, the animal is a primate. In certainembodiments, the animal is a non-human primate. In certain embodiments,the animal is a human.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides methods ofadministering a pharmaceutical composition comprising an oligomericcompound of the present invention to an animal. Suitable administrationroutes include, but are not limited to, oral, rectal, transmucosal,intestinal, enteral, topical, suppository, through inhalation,intrathecal, intracerebroventricular, intraperitoneal, intranasal,intraocular, intratumoral, and parenteral (e.g., intravenous,intramuscular, intramedullary, and subcutaneous). In certainembodiments, pharmaceutical intrathecals are administered to achievelocal rather than systemic exposures. For example, pharmaceuticalcompositions may be injected directly in the area of desired effect(e.g., into the eyes, ears).

In certain embodiments, a pharmaceutical composition is administered toan animal having at least one cancer cell. In certain embodiments, suchadministration results in apoptosis of at least cancer cell. In certainembodiments, a pharmaceutical composition is administered to an animalhaving at least one symptom associated with cancer. In certainembodiments, such administration results in amelioration of at least onesymptom. In certain embodiments, administration of a pharmaceuticalcomposition to an animal results in a decrease of PK-M2 mRNA in a cellof the animal. In certain embodiments, such administration results in anincrease in PK-M1 mRNA. In certain embodiments, such administrationresults in a decrease in PK-M2 protein and an increase PK-M1 protein. Incertain embodiments, a PK-M1 protein is preferred over a PK-M2 protein.In certain embodiments, the administration of certain antisenseoligonucleotides delays the onset of cancer. In certain embodiments, theadministration of certain antisense oligonucleotides slows theproliferation of cancer cells. In certain embodiments, theadministration of certain antisense oligonucleotides slows theproliferation of tumor cells. In certain embodiments, the administrationof certain antisense oligonucleotides prevents the growth of cancer. Incertain embodiments, the administration of certain antisenseoligonucleotides prevents the formation of tumors. In certainembodiments, the administration of certain antisense oligonucleotidescauses tumor mass to decrease. In certain embodiments, theadministration of certain antisense oligonucleotides rescues cellularphenotype.

NONLIMITING DISCLOSURE AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

While certain compounds, compositions and methods described herein havebeen described with specificity in accordance with certain embodiments,the following examples serve only to illustrate the compounds describedherein and are not intended to limit the same. Each of the references,GenBank accession numbers, and the like recited in the presentapplication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Although the sequence listing accompanying this filing identifies eachsequence as either “RNA” or “DNA” as required, in reality, thosesequences may be modified with any combination of chemicalmodifications. One of skill in the art will readily appreciate that suchdesignation as “RNA” or “DNA” to describe modified oligonucleotides is,in certain instances, arbitrary. For example, an oligonucleotidecomprising a nucleoside comprising a 2′-OH sugar moiety and a thyminebase could be described as a DNA having a modified sugar (2′-OH for thenatural 2′-H of DNA) or as an RNA having a modified base (thymine(methylated uracil) for natural uracil of RNA).

Accordingly, nucleic acid sequences provided herein, including, but notlimited to those in the sequence listing, are intended to encompassnucleic acids containing any combination of natural or modified RNAand/or DNA, including, but not limited to such nucleic acids havingmodified nucleobases. By way of further example and without limitation,an oligomeric compound having the nucleobase sequence “ATCGATCG”encompasses any oligomeric compounds having such nucleobase sequence,whether modified or unmodified, including, but not limited to, suchcompounds comprising RNA bases, such as those having sequence “AUCGAUCG”and those having some DNA bases and some RNA bases such as “AUCGATCG”and oligomeric compounds having other modified or naturally occurringbases, such as “AT^(me)CGAUCG,” wherein ^(me)C indicates a cytosine basecomprising a methyl group at the 5-position.

EXAMPLES

The following examples illustrate certain embodiments of the presentinvention and are not limiting. Moreover, where specific embodiments areprovided, the inventors have contemplated generic application of thosespecific embodiments. For example, disclosure of an oligonucleotidehaving a particular motif provides reasonable support for additionaloligonucleotides having the same or similar motif And, for example,where a particular high-affinity modification appears at a particularposition, other high-affinity modifications at the same position areconsidered suitable, unless otherwise indicated.

Example 1 Screening in HEK-293 Cells to Identify AntisenseOligonucleotides that Promote the Expression of the Pyruvate Kinase M1Isoform Via Alternative Splicing

Alternative splicing of the Pyruvate kinase M (PK-M) gene involves achoice between mutually exclusive exons 9 and 10. An antisenseoligonucleotide (ASO) screen was carried out to identify potent ASOsthat switch the splicing of endogenous PK-M transcripts to include exon9, thereby promoting PK-M1 isoform expression and down-regulating PK-M2isoform expression. A diagram of the PK-M genomic region is presented inFIG. 1 a.

The ASOs were designed as uniform oligonucleotides, 15 nucleotides inlength, with 2′-O-methoxyethyl ribose sugar residues and aphosphorothioate backbone. All the cytosine nucleobases are5-methylcytosines. The ASOs target exon 10 of the complement of GENBANKAccession No. NT_(—)010194.16 truncated from nucleotides 43281289 to43314403 (designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 1), and cover the167-nucleotide region of exon 10 in 5-nucleotide steps, as presented inTable 1.

To examine the effects of antisense oligonucleotide treatment of thecells on endogenous PK-M transcripts, HEK-293 cells were transfectedwith each ASO at a final concentration of 30 nM. HEK-293 cells wereobtained from ATCC and grown at a density of 2×10⁶ cells in 6-cm dishesin DMEM supplemented with 10% (v/v) FBS, penicillin, and streptomycin,at 37° C. and 5% CO₂. Transfections were performed using an ASO:LipofectAMINE2000® ratio of 20 pmoles: 1 μL.

Splicing of the PK-M transcripts by radioactive RT-PCR was analyzed 48hrs after transfection. Two micrograms of total RNA was extracted fromthe cells using Trizol reagent (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, Calif.).Contaminating DNA was removed with DNase I (Promega). Reversetranscription was carried out using ImPromp-II reverse transcriptase(Promega). Semiquantitative PCR using Amplitaq polymerase (AppliedBiosystems) was performed by including [α-³²P]-dCTP in the reactions.The human-specific primer sets used to amplify endogenous transcriptsanneal to PK-M exons 8 and 11, and their sequences are: hPKMF:5′-AGAAACAGCCAAAGGGGACT-3′ (designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 2) andhPKMR: 5′-CATTCATGGCAAAGTTCACC-3′ (designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 3).The primers are represented by arrows at the top portion of FIG. 1 a.After 27 amplification cycles for endogenous transcripts, the reactionswere divided into two aliquots for digestion with PstI (New EnglandBiolabs) or no digestion. Pst1 digestion was carried out to distinguishbetween M1 and M2; only M2 has a PstI site, resulting in two cleavageproducts, B1 (213 nucleotides) and B2 (185 nucleotides) which are the 3′and 5′ ends of M2 respectively, as shown at the bottom portion of FIG. 1a.

The products were analyzed on a 5% native polyacrylamide gel, visualizedby autoradiography, and quantified on a Typhoon 9410 phosphorimager (GEHealthcare) using Multi Gauge software Version 2.3. The results arepresented in FIG. 1 b, and Table 1. The % M1 mRNA in endogenoustranscripts was calculated using the GC-content-normalized intensitiesof the top undigested band (M1; depicted as A in the figure), the bottomtwo digested bands (M2; depicted as B1 and B2 in the figure) in thePst1-digest lanes, and the double-skipped species (D), if detectable.Each product was quantified as a percentage of the total of M1, M2, anddouble-skipped species. % M1 and % M2 are presented in the Table. Thefirst row of Table 1 denotes the numbers from the untreated control setof cells.

Some of the ASOs strongly increased the proportion of PK-M1 mRNA, with aconcurrent increase in the amount of double-skipped mRNA, and a decreasein PK-M2 mRNA. The results indicate that these ASOs target functionalenhancer splice elements (ESEs) in exon 10.

The two most potent ASOs were ISIS 461456 and ISIS 461472. ISIS 461472targets the previously characterized exon 10 SRSF3 motif (Wang, Z. etal., J. Mol. Cell Biol. 4: 79-87, 2012), whereas ISIS 461456 targets anon-overlapping 15-nucleotide region in the middle of exon 10.

TABLE 1 RT-PCR screening of ASOs targeting exon 10 in HEK-293 cellsTarget Target SEQ Start Stop ID Isis No Site Site Sequence % M1 % M2 NOn/a n/a n/a n/a 2 98 n/a 461453 29153 29167 AATAATTGCAAGTGG 29 69 4461454 29158 29172 CCTCAAATAATTGCA 26 73 5 461455 29163 29177GAGTTCCTCAAATAA 27 70 6 461456 29168 29182 CGGCGGAGTTCCTCA 33 64 7461457 29173 29187 CCAGGCGGCGGAGTT 25 69 8 461458 29178 29192GGGCGCCAGGCGGCG 21 72 9 461459 29183 29197 GTAATGGGCGCCAGG 17 81 10461460 29188 29202 CGCTGGTAATGGGCG 23 70 11 461469 29248 29262CCCCACTGCAGCACT 13 82 12 461470 29253 29267 TATGGCCCCACTGCA 9 90 13461471 29258 29272 ACGATTATGGCCCCA 6 94 14 461472 29263 29277TGAGGACGATTATGG 23 74 15 461473 29268 29282 CTTGGTGAGGACGAT 4 95 16461474 29273 29287 CCAGACTTGGTGAGG 12 88 17

Example 2 ASO Microwalk Centered on the 10 W ESE Region

An ASO microwalk was performed to find the most potent ASOs that targetthe exon 10 regions defined by ISIS 461456 and ISIS 461472.

Overlapping 15-nucleotide ASOs were designed in 1-nucleotide steps. TheASOs were designed as uniform oligonucleotides, 15 nucleotides inlength, with 2′-O-methoxyethyl ribose sugar residues and aphosphorothioate backbone. All the cytosine nucleobases are5-methylcytosines. The ASOs target exon 10 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

To examine the effects of antisense oligonucleotide treatment of thecells on endogenous PK-M transcripts, HEK-293 cells were transfectedwith each ASO at a final concentration of 60 nM. Cell culture,transfection and RNA analysis was conducted in a similar manner to thatdescribed in Example 1. The results of the microwalks are presented inFIG. 1 c and Tables 2 and 3. The % M1 mRNA in endogenous transcripts wascalculated using the GC-content-normalized intensities of the topundigested band (M1; depicted as A in the figure), the bottom twodigested bands (M2; depicted as B1 and B2 in the figure) in thePst1-digest lanes, and the double-skipped species (D), if detectable.Each product was quantified as a percentage of the total of M1, M2, anddouble-skipped species. % M1 and % M2 are presented in the Tables below.All standard deviations are ≦4% (n=3).

The results indicate that ISIS 549197 was the most potent in increasingendogenous PK-M1 mRNA and decreasing PK-M2 mRNA levels. The results alsoindicate that ISIS 555158 optimally abrogated the SRSF3-dependent ESE inexon 10.

TABLE 2 ASO microwalk around ISIS 461456 in HEK-293 cells Target TargetSEQ Start Stop ID ISIS No Site Site Sequence % M1 % M2 NO n/a n/a n/an/a 2 98 n/a 549191 29161 29175 GTTCCTCAAATAATT 11 89 18 549192 2916229176 AGTTCCTCAAATAAT 17 83 19 549193 29164 29178 GGAGTTCCTCAAATA 28 6920 549194 29165 29179 CGGAGTTCCTCAAAT 29 69 21 549195 29166 29180GCGGAGTTCCTCAAA 4 95 22 549196 29167 29181 GGCGGAGTTCCTCAA 39 57 23549197 29169 29183 GCGGCGGAGTTCCTC 41 39 24 549198 29170 29184GGCGGCGGAGTTCCT 38 51 25 549199 29171 29185 AGGCGGCGGAGTTCC 38 53 26549200 29172 29186 CAGGCGGCGGAGTTC 25 69 27 549201 29174 29188GCCAGGCGGCGGAGT 25 67 28

TABLE 3 ASO microwalk around ISIS 461472 in HEK-293 cells Target TargetSEQ Start Stop ID ISIS No Site Site Sequence % M1 % M2 NO 555155 2925929273 GACGATTATGGCCCC 13 88 29 555156 29260 29274 GGACGATTATGGCCC 16 8430 555157 29261 29275 AGGACGATTATGGCC 26 61 31 555158 29262 29276GAGGACGATTATGGC 29 60 32 555159 29264 29278 GTGAGGACGATTATG 25 70 33555160 29265 29279 GGTGAGGACGATTAT 26 68 34 555161 29266 29280TGGTGAGGACGATTA 18 79 35 555162 29267 29281 TTGGTGAGGACGATT 14 83 36

Example 3 Characterization of the Activation Region of PK-M Exon 10

The target region of ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197, the most potent ASOs,was characterized in detail.

To map the enhancer elements present in the target region of ISIS461456, the high sequence identity between exons 9 and 10 was takenadvantage of The PK-M2 minigene was constructed by amplifying a 6.4 kbPK-M exon 8-11 fragment from human genomic DNA (Promega), using PhusionHigh-Fidelity DNA polymerase and primers PKMinigeneF(5′-GGGGAAGATATCAATTCCCCATTCTGTCTTCCCATGT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 37)and PKMinigeneR (5′-GGGGAACTCGAGCTAGACATTCATGGCAAAGTTCACC-3′; designatedSEQ ID NO: 38). The product was then digested and cloned between theBamHI and XhoI sites of pcDNA3.1+(Invitrogen). For exon-duplication andintron-deletion constructs, the upstream KpnI site 1552 nt downstream ofexon 8 was removed by a 1-nt deletion, and an EcoRV restriction site wasgenerated 90 nt upstream of exon 9 by a 2-nt insertion to create amodified wild-type minigene. To generate the 10 W, 10B7 and 10F7constructs, modified exon 9 fragments were generated by annealing thefollowing oligonucleotides: 10 W F(5′-CCCTAAACCTTACAGATAGCTCGTGAGGCTGAGGCAGCCATGTTCCACCGCAAGCTGTTTGAGGAACTCCGCCGAGCCTCAAGTCACTCCACAGACCTCATGGAAGCCAT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:39), 10F7F(5′-CCCTAAACCTTACAGATAGCTCGTGAGGCTGAGGCAGCCATGTTCCACCGCAAGCTGTTTGAGGAACTTGTGCGAGCCTCAAGTCACTCCACAGACCTCATGGAAGCCAT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:40), 10B7F(5′-CCCTAAACCTTACAGATAGCTCGTGAGGCTGAGGCAGCCATGTTCCACCGCAAGCTGTTTGAAGAACTCCGCCGAGCCTCAAGTCACTCCACAGACCTCATGGAAGCCAT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:41) with Exon 9Rev oligo(5′-CCCTTAGGGCCCTACCTGCCAGACTCCGTCAGAACTATCAAAGCTGCTGCTAAACACTTATAAGAAGCCTCCACGCTGCCCATGGCCATGGCTTCCATGAGGTCTG-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 42)and amplifying using Ex10ADupF(5′-TTCCCCATTCTGTCTTCCCATGTGTTGTGTCTCGTTTTTTTCCTCCTCCTTCCCTCTTCCTTGCCCCCTCTTCCCCTAAACCTTACAG-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 43) and Ex10ADupR(5′-AGTGTTACCTGCCCTTAGGGCCCTAC-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 44). The 106-ntoligonucleotide carries mutations that duplicate specific stretches ofexon 10 over the corresponding region of exon 9. Another fragment wasamplified from the wild-type minigene using the following primer pairs:Ex10BF: 5′-GTAGGGCCCTAAGGGCAGGTAACAC-3′ (designated SEQ ID NO: 45) andRKpnI: 5′-GGGGAAGGTACCACTGAGCAGGGCATT-3′ (designated SEQ ID NO: 46).Both fragments were then gel-purified, subjected to a secondoverlap-extension (OE) PCR using the end primers FEcoRV(5′-GGGGAAGATATCAATTCCCCATTCTGTCTTCCCATGT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 47)and RKpnI (5′-GGGGAGGTACCACTGAGCAGGGCATT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 48).

As shown in FIG. 2 a, the minigene comprises the same genomic region asindicated in FIG. 1 a. The 10 W minigene duplicates the entire exon 1010 W region into exon 9; the 1 OF minigene duplicates the first eightnucleotides of ISIS 549197; and the 10B minigene duplicates the lastseven nucleotides of ISIS 549197. Due to the low baseline PK-M1inclusion from the wild-type minigene, any strong ESEs comprised by thecandidate regions was expected to lead to an increase in PK-M1 mRNAsexpressed from the mini-gene.

The results are presented in FIG. 2 b and Table 4. Standard deviationsare 0.2%, 0.3%, and 2.6% for 10G, 10F, and 10B, respectively (n=3). Thedata indicate that duplication of the B7 region (10B), but not the F7(10F) and 10 W region, lead to increased exon 9 inclusion. This resultsuggests that the 8-nucleotide B7 motif is a bona fide exon 10 ESE.

TABLE 4 Analysis of minigenes 10W, 10F and 10B Minigene % M1 10W 2 10F<1 10B 29

Example 4 Characterization of the Mechanism of Action of the ASOs

To characterize the mechanism of action of ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197on the inclusion of exon 9 and skipping of exon 10, these ASOs wereco-transfected with the PK-M wild-type or duplicated exon 10 minigenes.The wild-type minigene comprises the flanking exons 8 and 11, and thecomplete genomic region between both exons, whereas the duplicationconstruct has exon 10 replaced completely with exon 9.

HEK-293 cells were cultured, as described above. Five μg of minigeneplasmid per 10-cm dish or one μg per 6-cm dish was transientlytransfected using LipofectAMINE2000® (Life Technologies, Carlsbad,Calif.). ASOs were transfected, as described above, at a finalconcentration of 60 nM. A control ASO (5′-TCATTTGCTTCATACAGG-3′,designated as SEQ ID NO: 49) was also used. The results are presented inFIGS. 2 c and d, as well as in Table 5. Standard deviations for FIG. 2 care 0.6%, 4.2% and 2.9% for control, ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197,respectively (n=3). Standard deviations for FIG. 2 d are 0.8%, 0.9%, and2.6% for control, ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197, respectively (n=3).

As expected, both ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197 switched the splicing ofthe minigene transcript by simultaneously increasing the amount of theM1 mRNA and decreasing the amount of the M2 mRNA expressed from thewild-type minigene (FIG. 2 c and Table 5). However, ISIS 461456increased exon 9 inclusion to a greater extent than ISIS 549197,although the latter decreased exon 10 inclusion to a greater extent,resulting in higher levels of double-skipped (Skp) transcripts.

Co-transfection of ISIS 461456 or ISIS 549197 with the exon 10duplication minigene interfered with the inclusion of exon 10, leadingto a large increase in double skipped species (FIG. 2 d and Table 5).ISIS 461456 was especially potent, nearly converting all the mRNA to theSkp isoform.

These results suggest that both ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197 interferewith the activation of exon 10.

TABLE 5 Minigene transcript level as a result of ASO co-transfection inHEK-293 cells ASO Minigene treatment % M1 % Skp % M2 Wild-type Control 16 93 ISIS 461456 26 63 11 ISIS 5491597 8 85 7 Exon 10 Control n/a 1 99duplication ISIS 461456 n/a 60 40 ISIS 5491597 n/a 82 18

Alignment of the 10 W region with the PK-M exons 8-11 genomic regionrevealed a highly homologous region in intron 9 (FIG. 2 e). To weigh therelative contributions of the exon 10 and intron 9 complementary regionsfor the effect of ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197 on PK-M splicing, minigenemutation were made that eliminated the presumptive target sites in exon10, intron 9, or both. The effect of the ASOs on splicing of the mutantminigene transcripts was then determined

Three mutants were generated (FIG. 2 e). The exon 10 10 W region wasmutated by duplicating the corresponding exon 9 region and termed thed10 W construct. To generate the d10 W minigene construct, a modifiedexon 10 fragment was constructed by annealing d10 W F(5′-ATGTTGCTCCCCTAGATTGCCCGTGAGGCAGAGGCTGCCATCTACCACTTGCAATTATTTGAAGAACTTGTGCGCCTGGCGCCCATTACCAGCGACCCCACAGAAGCCAC-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:50) with Exon 10 Rev(5′-CGCTGCCGCCTCCTACCTGCCAGACTTGGTGAGGACGATTATGGCCCCACTGCAGCACTTGAAGGAGGCCTCCACGGCACCCACGGCGGTGGCTTCTGTGGGGTCGCT-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:51) and amplifying using Ex9ADupF (5′-TGGACGGATGTTGCTCCCCTAG-3′;designated SEQ ID NO: 52) and Ex9ADupR(5′-GGTACCACTGAGCAGGGCATTCCAGGGAGCCGCTGCCGCCTCCTAC-3′; designated SEQ IDNO: 53). The 108-nt oligonucleotide carries mutations that duplicatespecific stretches of exon 9 over the corresponding region in exon 10.Another fragment was amplified from the wild-type minigene using thefollowing primer pairs: FEcoRV and Ex9BR(5′-GTAGGGCCCTAAGGGCAGGTAACAC-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 54). Bothfragments were then gel-purified and subjected to a second OE PCRreaction using the FEcoRV and RKpnI primers.

A 15-nucleotide deletion was introduced in intron 9 that removed thehomologous target region and this was termed the dInt9 construct. Togenerate the dInt9 mutant, two fragments were generated from thewild-type minigene construct, using the following primer pairs: FEcoRVand PKMdelB12R (5′ TGCCCTGCCATGACCTCCCAGACGAGAAGAGGCTCTGTGCCCAG-3′;designated SEQ ID NO: 55) and PKMdelB125(5′-ACAGAGCCTCTTCTCGTCTGGGAGGTCATGGCAGGGCAG-3′; designated SEQ ID NO:56).

To generate the dM double mutant, the same two fragments were generatedfrom the d10 W minigene. Both fragments were then gel-purified andsubjected to a second OE PCR using FEcoRV and RKpnI. All generatedfragments were then cloned between the EcoRV and KpnI sites of themodified wild-type minigene plasmid.

There was a slight decrease in baseline minigene PK-M2 mRNA expressedfrom the d10 W minigenes (FIG. 2 f and Table 6), suggesting that theduplicated exon 9 region contains weak repressor elements. This was notthe case for the dInt9 construct, suggesting that this region alone doesnot have a major effect in dictating M1/M2 ratios.

The loss of the 10 W binding site largely abrogated the exon 9 inclusionand exon 10 skipping promoted by ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197 (FIG. 2 fand Table 6). In contrast, removal of the intron 9 homologous region didnot block the effect of ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197 on splicing.However, when both binding sites were removed, the effect of ISIS 461456and ISIS 549197 was completely abrogated. The results indicate that ISIS461456 and ISIS 549197 largely mediate exon 9 inclusion through the 10 Wcomplementary region in exon 10.

TABLE 6 Mutant minigene transcript level as a result of ASOco-transfection in HEK-293 cells ASO Minigene treatment % M1 % Skp % M2D10W Control 5 9 86 ISIS 461456 11 20 68 ISIS 5491597 10 34 56 dInt9Control 1 7 92 ISIS 461456 19 74 7 ISIS 5491597 12 80 9 dM Control 2 593 ISIS 461456 1 6 93 ISIS 5491597 1 5 94

Example 5 Antisense Inhibition of PK-M in Glioblastoma Cells

A characteristic splicing switch from PK-M1 to PK-M2 occurs duringgliomagenesis (Clower, C. V. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107:1894-1899, 2010; Bluemlein, K. et al., Oncotarget. 2: 393-400, 2011).Glioblastoma cells also have a higher basal level of PK-M1 mRNA, whichis expected to facilitate the ASO-mediated PK-M splicing switch (Clower,C. V. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107: 1894-1899, 2010).

To compare the effect of ASOs targeting the 10 W region versus thosetargeting the SRSF3 region, side-by-side ASO transfections at finalconcentrations of 30 nM, 60 nM, and 90 nM in the glioblastoma cell linesA172 and U87-MG were conducted. ISIS 555158 was the ASO targeting theSRSF3 region that was chosen and was transfected at final concentrationsof 60 or 90 nM. The control oligonucleotide was transfected at a finalconcentration of 90 nM. The experiment was run in triplicates.

U87-MG and A172 cells were obtained from ATCC and grown in DMEMsupplemented with 10% (v/v) FBS, penicillin, and streptomycin, at 37° C.and 5% CO₂. ASO transfections were conducted as described above.Radioactive RT-PCR and restriction digest of endogenous PK-M transcriptswere performed 36 hrs after transfection. The results are presented inFIG. 3 a, as well as in Tables 7 and 8. All standard deviations are ≦4%(n=3)

As expected, there was a dose-dependent increase in exon 9 inclusion andexon 10 skipping in these cell lines, with ISIS 461456 and ISIS 549197performing better than ISIS 555158. Consistent with the minigeneexperiments, treatment with ISIS 461456 resulted in greater increase inPK-M1 mRNA levels than treatment with other ASOs, whereas treatment withISIS 549197 resulted in more double-skipped mRNA and a larger decreasein PK-M2 mRNA levels than treatment with other ASOs.

TABLE 7 Effect of ASO treatment on PK-M mRNA levels in A172 glioblastomacells Treatment Dose (nM) % M1 % Skp % M2 Control 90 15 — 85 ISIS 30 52— 48 461456 60 63 — 37 90 73 — 27 ISIS 30 49 8 42 549197 60 49 12 38 9056 23 21 ISIS 60 39 10 51 555158 90 44 15 41

TABLE 8 Effect of ASO treatment on PK-M mRNA levels in U87-MGglioblastoma cells Treatment Dose (nM) % M1 % Skp % M2 Control 90 4 — 96ISIS 30 43 2 55 461456 60 50 3 46 90 54 5 41 ISIS 30 36 12 52 549197 6038 17 44 90 45 22 33 ISIS 60 24 11 65 555158 90 29 14 57

To estimate the amount of PK-M1 and PK-M2 proteins in the cell lysates,isoform-specific antibodies were used. Cells were lysed in SDS, andtotal protein concentration was measured by the Bradford assay. Totalprotein of 5-30 μg was separated by SDS-PAGE and transferred ontonitrocellulose. This was followed by blocking with 5% (w/v) milk inTris-buffered saline with Tween-20, probing with antibodies andvisualization by enhanced chemiluminescence (Roche). The primaryantibodies used were β-actin (Genscript mAb, 1:10,000); PK-M2 (CellSignaling Technology, rAb, 1:2,000); and PK-M1 (ProteinTech, rAb,1:1,000). Secondary antibodies were goat anti-mouse or anti-rabbit HRPconjugates (Bio-Rad, 1:20,000). The results are presented in FIG. 3 b. Arepresentative blot from one of three independent experiments is shown.

As expected, PK-M1 and PK-M2 protein isoform levels closely mirroredtheir mRNA levels. There was detectable PK-M1 protein after transfectionof each of the three ASOs, but ISIS 549197 resulted in the greatestdecrease in PK-M2 levels.

The data was also confirmed by immunofluorescence technique. Cells werefirst transfected with ASOs as described above and then plated on 4-wellculture slides (BD Biosciences) 24-hrs post transfection. At 36 hrspost-transfection, the cells were washed with PBS and fixed with 3.7%formaldehyde in PBS for 20 min. Cells were then permeabilized in 0.1%Triton X-100 in PBS for 10 min after washing in PBS, and then blockedfor 20 min in blocking buffer (1% goat serum in PBS). The cells werethen incubated overnight with rabbit monoclonal anti-PK-M2 antibody(Cell Signaling Technology). After washing 3 times with PBS, the cellswere then incubated for 1 hr in blocking buffer containing Alexa Fluor594-conjugated goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody (MolecularProbes/Invitrogen). Cells were analyzed using a Zeiss Axiopian.Z1upright fluorescent microscope. Downregulation of PK-M2 protein was alsoobserved when either ISIS 461456 or ISIS 549197, but not the controlASO, was transfected into A172 or U87-MG cells (FIG. 3 c).

Example 6 Effect of Antisense Inhibition of PK-M on Apoptosis inGlioblastoma Cells

The effect of treatment with ASOs targeting PK-M on apoptosis of theglioblastoma cells was studied.

Treatment with ISIS 549197 resulted in cleaved PARP as early as 24 hrspost-transfection in A172 cells, indicating that the cells wereundergoing apoptosis. Cells were harvested 24 or 48 hrs aftertransfection, whereas the control cells were harvested after 48 hrs. Thecells were lysed in SDS and total protein concentration was measured bythe Bradford assay. Total protein (5-30 μg) was separated by SDS-PAGEand transferred onto nitrocellulose. The membrane was blocked with 5%(w/v) milk in Tris-buffered saline with Tween-20 and probed with PARPprimary antibody (Cell Signaling Technology, rAb, 1:1,000). The bandswere visualized by enhanced chemiluminescence (Roche). The results arepresented in FIG. 4.

To confirm this observation, Annexin V staining assays were performedwith A172 and U87-MG cells transfected with ISIS 460456, ISIS 549197, orISIS 555158 at a final concentration of 90 nM. Cells (1×10⁶ in number)were collected 36 hrs after transfection, washed twice with PBS andresuspended in 1× Binding Buffer (10 mM HEPES, pH 7.4; 140 mM NaCl; 2.5mM CaCl₂). The cells were then stained with 5 μl each of Annexin V-APCantibody and 7-AAD (Becton Dickinson) in the dark for 15 min, andanalyzed for apoptosis for flow cytometry using an LSRII Cell Analyzer(Becton Dickinson). Both early apoptotic (7AAD⁻/Annexin V⁺) and lateapoptotic (7AAD⁺/Annexin V⁺) cells were included in the quantification.The results are presented in FIG. 5 a and Table 9, and are arepresentative of 3 biological triplicates each. Table 9 presents thepercentage of Annexin V-positive cells, as indicated in the two rightquadrants in each plot of the flow cytometric analysis.

TABLE 9 Effect of ASO treatment on apoptosis in A172 glioblastoma cellsASO: Control ISIS 555158 ISIS 461456 ISIS 549197 A172 3 23 34 48 U87-MG4 18 32 44

To confirm this finding, cells were transfected with ISIS 461456 or ISIS549197 at 30 nM, 60 nM, or 90 nM or with ISIS 555158 at 60 nM or 90 nM.The control ASO was transfected at 90 nM. The data is presented in FIG.5 b and Tables 10 and 11. The proportion of Annexin V-positive cellsincreased in an ASO dose-dependent manner, indicating that ASO-mediatedswitching of PK-M splicing induces apoptosis in these cell lines. ISIS549197 was the most potent in inducing apoptosis among the three ASOstested.

TABLE 10 Effect of ASO multi-dose treatment on apoptosis in A172glioblastoma cells Treatment Dose (nM) % apoptosis Control 90 3 ISIS 3010 461456 60 20 90 34 ISIS 30 20 549197 60 44 90 48 ISIS 60 16 555158 9023

TABLE 11 Effect of ASO multi-dose treatment on apoptosis in U87-MGglioblastoma cells Treatment Dose (nM) % apoptosis Control 90 4 ISIS 308 461456 60 27 90 32 ISIS 30 13 549197 60 30 90 44 ISIS 60 10 555158 9018

Example 7 Effect of Antisense Inhibition of PK-M on Apoptosis in PK-M1Inducible Cells

To investigate the mechanism of action by which treatment with ASOselicits apoptosis in glioblastoma cells, stable cell lines that expresshuman PK-M1 cDNA in a doxycycline-inducible manner or PK-M2 cDNA in aconstitutive manner were generated.

To generate cell lines that over-express human PK-M1 isoform in adoxycycline-dependent manner, A172 cells were first infected withMSCV-rtTA-hygro virus, and selected in hygromycin for 2 weeks. HumanPK-M1 cDNA was amplified from A172 cells transfected with ISIS 549197using the following primer pair: hPKT7cDNAF(5′-GGGGAACTCGAGATGGCTTCTAGGATGGCATCGATGACAGGTGGCCAACAGATGGGCATGTCGAAGCCCCATAGTGAAGCCG-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 57) and hPKT7cDNAR(5′-GGGGAAGAATTCTCACGGCACAGGAACAACACGCATG-3′; designated SEQ ID NO: 58)with Phusion High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase (Finnzymes). The resultingamplicon containing the T7 tag was gel-purified and cloned between theEcoRI and XhoI sites of the retroviral TtiGP plasmid.A172-rTA cells werethen infected with TtiGP-PKM1 virus. To make cells lines constitutivelyover-express human PK-M2, PK-M2 cDNA from A172 cells were amplifiedusing the same primers and cloned between the EcoRI and XhoI sites ofthe retroviral PIG plasmid. A172 and U87-MG cells were then infectedwith the PIG-PKM2 virus. All infected cells were then selected with 100μg/ml puromycin for 3 days. All plasmids were sequenced to confirm theiridentities.

FIG. 6 a presents the immunoblot analysis of A172 cells stablytransduced with rtTA and doxycycline-inducible human T7-tagged PK-M1cDNA. FIG. 6 b presents the immunoblot analysis of A172 and U87 cellsstably transduced with T7-tagged human PK-M2 cDNA. Cells were grown inparallel with or without doxycycline, and harvested after 72 hrs. Thecells were lysed and prepared for western blotting analysis, asdescribed in an earlier Example. The primary antibodies used were PK-M1(ProteinTech, rAb, 1:1,000), T7 (mAb, 1:1,000), PK-M2 (Cell SignalingTechnology, rAb, 1:2,000) and β-actin (Genscript mAb, 1:10,000).

To investigate the role of PK-M1 in ASO-mediated apoptosis, doxycyclinewas added to the PK-M1-inducible cells for three days, after which thecells were treated with ISIS 461456, ISIS 549197, or control ASO at 60nM final concentrations. After 36 hrs, the cells were stained forAnnexin V and analyzed by flow cytometry. The results are presented inFIG. 6 c and Table 10. The histograms of FIG. 6 c indicate the foldincrease in Annexin V-positive cells, compared to the control ASO foreach condition. The data indicate that there was a similar increase inthe number of Annexin V-positive cells in the cells that did or did notoverexpress PK-M1, suggesting that PK-M1 induction did not causeapoptosis in these cells.

To investigate the role of PK-M2 downregulation in apoptosis, U87-MG andA172 cells overexpressing PK-M2 were treated with ISIS 461456, ISIS549197, ISIS 555158, or control ASO at a final concentration of 90 nM.The cells were analyzed by immunoblotting as well as by Annexin V flowcytometry. The results are presented in FIGS. 6 b and 6 d, as well asTables 12 and 13, and indicate that overexpression of PK-M2 in both celllines rescued the cells from the ASO-mediated apoptosis, leading to thedecrease in the number of Annexin V-positive cells to baseline levels.The histogram shown in FIG. 6 d indicates the fold-increase in AnnexinV-positive cells, compared to control ASO for each cell line.

TABLE 12 Fold change of apoptosis compared to control ASO inPK-M1-inducible cells Treatment Doxycycline Fold-change ISIS No 3.0461456 Yes 3.3 ISIS No 8.4 549197 Yes 7.5

TABLE 13 Fold change of apoptosis compared to control ASO inPK-M2-overexpressing cells Cell line Treatment % apoptosis A172 ISIS555158 7.3 ISIS 461456 10.8 ISIS 549197 15.0 0.9A172 M2 ISIS 555158 0.9ISIS 461456 0.9 ISIS 549197 1.0 U87-MG ISIS 555158 4.6 ISIS 461456 8.2ISIS 549197 11.3 U87-MG M2 ISIS 555158 1.0 ISIS 461456 1.4 ISIS 5491971.1

Example 8 siRNA Knockdown of PK-M2 in A172 Cells

To confirm the effect on apoptosis in glioblastoma cells by antisenseinhibition, siRNA knockdown of PK-M2 in A172 cells was employed.

Four siRNAs targeting exon 10 of human PKM2 were obtained from SigmaGenosys, and have sense-strand sequences 5′-CCAUAAUCGUCCGCACCAA-3′(M2si1; designated SEQ ID NO: 59), 5′-CAUCUACCACUUGCAAUUA-3′ (M2si2;designated SEQ ID NO: 60), 5′-CCGUGGAGGCCUCCUUCAA-3′ (M2si3; designatedSEQ ID NO: 61) and 5′-CUUGCAAUUAUUUGAGGAA-3′ (M2si4; designated SEQ IDNO: 62). A172 cells (4×10⁶) in 6-well plates were transfected with 400pmol of siRNA duplex using LipofectAMINE2000®. Cells were harvested 48hr later.

The results are presented in FIG. 7. Knockdown of PK-M2 also led to theappearance of cleaved PARP after 48 hrs. These observations confirm thatthe down-regulation of PK-M2 expression, but not the induction of PK-M1expression, leads to apoptosis in glioblastoma cell lines.

Example 9 Effect of 2′-O-Methoxyethyl Antisense Oligonucleotides on PK-MSplicing In Vivo

The ASOs listed in Table 14 below were designed to target exon 10 of themouse PK-M transcript comprising GENBANK Accession No. NT_(—)039474.8truncated from nucleotides 5923000 to 5949000 (designated herein as SEQID NO: 63). (Note that the human ASOs described herein target thecomplement of the human genomic PK-M sequence NT_(—)010194.16 truncatedfrom nucleotides 43281289 to 43314403, whereas the mouse ASOs target themouse genomic sequence NT_(—)039474.8 truncated from nucleotides 5923000to 5949000 because the mouse sequence, SEQ ID: 63, corresponds to thenon-coding strand of the mouse genomic DNA. In each case, the ASOs arecomplementary to the RNA transcript.) Each of the ASOs in Table 14 isalso complementary to the human PK-M transcript with 0-3 mismatches.Each of the ASOs is 15 nucleotides in length, with uniform2′-O-methoxyethyl ribose sugar residues, and uniform phosphorothioateinternucleoside linkages. All the cytosine nucleobases are5-methylcytosines.

To examine the effects of antisense oligonucleotide treatment onendogenous PK-M transcripts in vivo, C57B1/6 wild-type (WT) mice wereinjected subcutaneously once per week for three weeks with one of theASOs listed in Table 14 at 100 mg/kg or with PBS as a control. Eachtreatment group consisted of 4 animals. Four days after theadministration of the last dose, the mice were sacrificed and tissueswere collected.

PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNA levels in each of the mice's livers were determinedusing real-time PCR and RIBOGREEN® RNA quantification reagent (MolecularProbes, Inc. Eugene, Oreg.) according to standard protocols. Twomouse-specific primer probe sets were used to amplify endogenous PK-M1.The first primer set anneals to PK-M exons 8 and 9 (mPKMF:5′-TGTCTGGAGAAACAGCCAAGG-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 64; mPKMR:5′-CAAGCTCTTCAAACAGCAGACG-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO:65; probesequence: 5′-AGCACCTGATAGCTCGGGAGGC-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO:66). The second PK-M1 primer set anneals to exons 9 and 11 (mPKMF:5′-AAGATGCCACGGTACAGATGG-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 67; mPKMR5′-CAGACCTCATGGAGGCCATG-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 68; probesequence: 5′-TGGCAGGAGTGCTCACCAAGT-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO:69). Two mouse-specific primer probe sets were used to amplifyendogenous PK-M2. The first PK-M2 primer set anneals to PK-M exons 8 and10 (mPKMF: 5′-GGAGTTCCTCGAATAGCTGCAAG-3′, designated herein as SEQ IDNO:70; and mPKMR: 5′-AGTCCTGGATGGAGCAGACT-3′, designated herein as SEQID NO:71; probe sequence: 5′-GCTGTTCGCATGCAGCACCT-3′, designated hereinas SEQ ID NO:72). The second PK-M2 primer set anneals to exons 10 and 11(mPKMF: 5′-GCGAGCAGTCTGGGGATTTC-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO: 73;mPKMR: 5′-ACCCCACAGAAGCTGCC-3′, designated herein as SEQ ID NO:74; probesequence: 5′-ACCAAGTCTGGCAGGAGTGCTC-3′, designated herein as SEQ IDNO:75). mRNA levels were determined relative to GAPDH prior tonormalization to PBS-treated controls. The results in Table 15 arepresented as the average percent of PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNA levels for eachtreatment group, relative to the PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNA levels of thePBS-treated control group, respectively, and are denoted as “% PBS”. Thestandard error for all PK-M1 results was ≦34%, and the standard errorfor all PK-M2 results was ≦6%. The results for each primer probe set arelisted. “ND” indicates no data because the ASO targets a portion of theamplicon, thereby preventing primer binding and amplification. All ofthe ASOs were well tolerated, as assessed by liver weight and ALT andAST levels.

TABLE 14 ASOs targeting mouse PK-M exon 10 Mouse Mouse Target Target SEQStart Stop ID Isis No. Site Site Sequence (5′ to 3′) NO. 606601 2099421011 GTTCCTCGAATAGCTGCA 76 606602 20995 21012 AGTTCCTCGAATAGCTGC 77606604 20997 21014 GGAGTTCCTCGAATAGCT 78 606651 21096 21113TGAGCACGATAATGGCCC 79 606653 21098 21115 GGTGAGCACGATAATGGC 80 60666121106 21123 CCAGACTTGGTGAGCACG 81

TABLE 15 Effect of ASOs targeting mouse PK-M exon 10 on PK-M splicing invivo PK-M1, PK-M1, PK-M2, PK-M2, exons 8, exons 9, exons 8, exons 10, 9primer 11 primer 10 primer 11 primer Isis probe set probe set probe setprobe set No. (% PBS) (% PBS) (% PBS) (% PBS) n/a 100 100 100  100 606601 260 250 ND 50 606602 290 270 ND 50 606604 210 200 ND 60 606651440 400 50 ND 606653 270 270 50 ND 606661 320 200 40 ND

Example 10 Effect of Deoxy, MOE, and cEt Antisense Oligonucleotides onPK-M Splicing In Vivo

The ASOs listed in Table 16 below were designed to target exon 10 of SEQID NO: 63. Each of the ASOs in Table 16 is also complementary to thehuman PK-M transcript with 0-3 mismatches. The ASOs are either 16 or 18nucleotides in length, with deoxy sugar residues, 2′-MOE modified sugarresidues, or cEt modified sugar residues, and uniform phosphorothioateinternucleoside linkages. The Chemistry column presents the positions ofthe sugar residues; ‘d’ signifies a deoxy sugar, ‘e’ signifies 2′-MOEmodified sugar residue, and ‘k’ signifies a cEt modified sugar residue.All the cytosine nucleobases are 5-methylcytosines.

To examine the effects of antisense oligonucleotide treatment onendogenous PK-M transcripts in vivo, C57B1/6 WT mice were injectedsubcutaneously once per week for four weeks with one of the ASOs listedin Table 16 at 100 mg/kg or with PBS as a control. Each treatment groupconsisted of 4 animals. Two days after the administration of the lastdose, the mice were sacrificed and tissues were collected.

PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNA levels in each of the mice's livers were determinedusing real-time PCR according to standard protocols. Mouse-specificprimer probe sets, described in Example 9, were used to amplifyendogenous PK-M1 and PK-M2. mRNA levels were determined relative toGAPDH prior to normalization to PBS-treated controls. The results inTable 17 are presented as the average percent of PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNAlevels for each treatment group, relative to the PK-M1 and PK-M2 mRNAlevels of the PBS-treated control group, respectively, and are denotedas “% PBS”. “ND” indicates no data because the ASO targets a portion ofthe amplicon, thereby preventing primer binding and amplification. Allof the ASOs were well tolerated, as assessed by liver weight and ALT andAST levels, except for ISIS 607034 which resulted in elevation in allthree or those measures of tolerability.

TABLE 16 ASOs targeting mouse PK-M exon 10 Mouse Mouse Target TargetSEQ ID Isis No. Start Site Stop Site Chemistry Sequence (5′ to 3′) NO606989 20980 20995 kddkddkddkddkddk CAAGTGGTAGATGGCA 82 606996 2100821023 kddkddkddkddkddk CCAGGCGGCGGAGTTC 83 607001 21044 21059kddkddkddkddkddk CGGCGGCAGCTTCTGT 84 607003 21052 21067 kddkddkddkddkddkGGCACCCACGGCGGCA 85 607016 21104 21119 kddkddkddkddkddk ACTTGGTGAGCACGAT86 607034 21000 21017 kkddkddkddkddkddkk GGCGGAGTTCCTCGAATA 87 60704121044 21061 kkddkddkddkddkddkk CACGGCGGCAGCTTCTGT 88 607042 21048 21065kkddkddkddkddkddkk CACCCACGGCGGCAGCTT 89 607055 21100 21117kkddkddkddkddkddkk TTGGTGAGCACGATAATG 90 607057 21108 21125kkddkddkddkddkddkk TGCCAGACTTGGTGAGCA 91 607095 21100 21115keekeekeekeekeek GGTGAGCACGATAATG 92 607135 21100 21117kkeekeekeekeekeeke TTGGTGAGCACGATAATG 93 607136 21104 21121kkeekeekeekeekeeke AGACTTGGTGAGCACGAT 94

TABLE 17 Effect of ASOs targeting mouse PK-M exon 10 on PK-M splicing invivo PK-M1, PK-M1, PK-M2, PK-M2, exons 8, exons 9, exons 8, exons 10, 9primer 11 primer 10 primer 11 primer Isis probe set probe set probe setprobe set No. (% PBS) (% PBS) (% PBS) (% PBS) n/a 100 100 100  100606989 421 476 ND 86 606996 326 315 ND 25 607001 398 429 65 ND 607003365 353 69 ND 607016 435 389 56 ND 607034 525 626 ND 148 607041 335 38178 ND 607042 240 306 92 ND 607055 987 859 73 ND 607057 327 126 34 ND607095 428 171 51 ND 607135 475 39 54 ND 607136 389 265 71 ND

1. A compound comprising a modified oligonucleotide consisting of 8 to30 linked nucleosides and having a nucleobase sequence comprising acomplementary region, wherein the complementary region comprises atleast 8 contiguous nucleobases and is complementary to an equal-lengthportion of a target region of a PK-M transcript.
 2. The compound ofclaim 1, wherein the target region of the PK-M transcript comprises atleast a portion of exon 10 of the PK-M transcript.
 3. The compound ofclaim 1 or 2, wherein the complementary region of the modifiedoligonucleotide is 100% complementary to the target region.
 4. Thecompound of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the complementary region ofthe modified oligonucleotide comprises at least 10 contiguousnucleobases.
 5. The compound of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein thecomplementary region of the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least15 contiguous nucleobases.
 6. The compound of any of claims 1 to 3,wherein the complementary region of the modified oligonucleotidecomprises at least 20 contiguous nucleobases.
 7. The compound of any ofclaims 1-6, wherein the nucleobase sequence of the oligonucleotide is atleast 80% complementary to an equal-length region of the PK-Mtranscript, as measured over the entire length of the oligonucleotide.8. The compound of any of claims 1-6, wherein the nucleobase sequence ofthe oligonucleotide is at least 90% complementary to an equal-lengthregion of the PK-M transcript, as measured over the entire length of theoligonucleotide.
 9. The compound of any of claims 1-6, wherein thenucleobase sequence of the oligonucleotide is 100% complementary to anequal-length region of the PK-M transcript, as measured over the entirelength of the oligonucleotide.
 10. The compound of any of claims 1-9,wherein the target region is within exon 10 of the PK-M transcript. 11.The compound of any of claims 1-10, wherein the target region is withinnucleobase 29153 and nucleobase 29281 of SEQ ID NO.:
 1. 12. The compoundof any of claims 1-10, wherein the target region is within nucleobase29158 and nucleobase 29262 of SEQ ID NO.:
 1. 13. The compound of any ofclaims 1-10, wherein the target region is within nucleobase 29164 andnucleobase 29188 of SEQ ID NO.:
 1. 14. The compound of any of claims1-10, wherein the target region is within nucleobase 29261 andnucleobase 29279 of SEQ ID NO.:
 1. 15. The compound of any of claims1-10, wherein the target region is within nucleobase 29168 andnucleobase 29183 of SEQ ID NO.:
 1. 16. The compound of any of claims1-15, wherein the nucleobase sequence of the antisense oligonucleotidecomprises any one of SEQ ID NOs: 4 to
 36. 17. The compound of any ofclaims 1-16, wherein the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least onemodified nucleoside.
 18. The compound of claim 17, wherein at least onemodified nucleoside comprises a modified sugar moiety.
 19. The compoundof claim 18, wherein at least one modified sugar moiety is a2′-substituted sugar moiety.
 20. The compound of claim 19, wherein the2′-substitutent of at least one 2′-substituted sugar moiety is selectedfrom among: 2′-OMe, 2′-F, and 2′-MOE.
 21. The compound of any of claims17-20, wherein the 2′-substituent of at least one 2′-substituted sugarmoiety is a 2′-MOE.
 22. The compound of any of claims 1-18, wherein atleast one modified sugar moiety is a bicyclic sugar moiety.
 23. Thecompound of claim 22, wherein at least one bicyclic sugar moiety is LNAor cEt.
 24. The compound of any of claims 18-23, wherein at least onesugar moiety is a sugar surrogate.
 25. The compound of claim 24, whereinat least one sugar surrogate is a morpholino.
 26. The compound of claim24, wherein at least one sugar surrogate is a modified morpholino. 27.The compound of any of claim 1-26, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises at least 5 modified nucleosides, each independently comprisinga modified sugar moiety.
 28. The compound of claim 27, wherein themodified oligonucleotide comprises at least 10 modified nucleosides,each independently comprising a modified sugar moiety.
 29. The compoundof claim 27, wherein the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least 15modified nucleosides, each independently comprising a modified sugarmoiety.
 30. The compound of claim 27, wherein each nucleoside of themodified oligonucleotide is a modified nucleoside, each independentlycomprising a modified sugar moiety
 31. The compound of any of claims1-30, wherein the modified oligonucleotide comprises at least twomodified nucleosides comprising modified sugar moieties that are thesame as one another.
 32. The compound of any of claims 1-31, wherein themodified oligonucleotide comprises at least two modified nucleosidescomprising modified sugar moieties that are different from one another.33. The compound of any of claims 1-32, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises a modified region of at least 5 contiguousmodified nucleosides.
 34. The compound of claim 33, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises a modified region of at least 10 contiguousmodified nucleosides.
 35. The compound of claim 33, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises a modified region of at least 15 contiguousmodified nucleosides.
 36. The compound of claim 33, wherein the modifiedoligonucleotide comprises a modified region of at least 20 contiguousmodified nucleosides.
 37. The compound of any of claims 32-36, whereineach modified nucleoside of the modified region has a modified sugarmoiety independently selected from among: 2′-F, 2′-OMe, 2′-MOE, cEt,LNA, morpholino, and modified morpholino.
 38. The compound of any ofclaims 33-37, wherein the modified nucleosides of the modified regioneach comprise the same modification as one another.
 39. The compound ofclaim 38, wherein the modified nucleosides of the modified region eachcomprise the same 2′-substituted sugar moiety.
 40. The compound of claim38, wherein the 2′-substituted sugar moiety of the modified nucleosidesof the region of modified nucleosides is selected from 2′-F, 2′-OMe, and2′-MOE.
 41. The compound of claim 39, wherein the 2′-substituted sugarmoiety of the modified nucleosides of the region of modified nucleosidesis 2′-MOE.
 42. The compound of claim 38, wherein the modifiednucleosides of the region of modified nucleosides each comprise the samebicyclic sugar moiety.
 43. The compound of claim 42, wherein thebicyclic sugar moiety of the modified nucleosides of the region ofmodified nucleosides is selected from LNA and cEt.
 44. The compound ofclaim 38, wherein the modified nucleosides of the region of modifiednucleosides each comprises a sugar surrogate.
 45. The compound of claim44, wherein the sugar surrogate of the modified nucleosides of theregion of modified nucleosides is a morpholino.
 46. The compound ofclaim 44, wherein the sugar surrogate of the modified nucleosides of theregion of modified nucleosides is a modified morpholino.
 47. Thecompound of any of claims 1-46, wherein the modified nucleotidecomprises no more than 4 contiguous naturally occurring nucleosides. 48.The compound of any of claims 1-46, wherein each nucleoside of themodified oligonucleotide is a modified nucleoside.
 49. The compound ofclaim 48 wherein each modified nucleoside comprises a modified sugarmoiety.
 50. The compound of claim 49, wherein the modified nucleosidesof the modified oligonucleotide comprise the same modification as oneanother.
 51. The compound of claim 50, wherein the modified nucleosidesof the modified oligonucleotide each comprise the same 2′-substitutedsugar moiety.
 52. The compound of claim 51, wherein the 2′-substitutedsugar moiety of the modified oligonucleotide is selected from 2′-F,2′-OMe, and 2′-MOE.
 53. The compound of claim 52, wherein the2′-substituted sugar moiety of the modified oligonucleotide is 2′-MOE.54. The compound of claim 50, wherein the modified nucleosides of themodified oligonucleotide each comprise the same bicyclic sugar moiety.55. The compound of claim 54, wherein the bicyclic sugar moiety of themodified oligonucleotide is selected from LNA and cEt.
 56. The compoundof claim 50, wherein the modified nucleosides of the modifiedoligonucleotide each comprises a sugar surrogate.
 57. The compound ofclaim 56, wherein the sugar surrogate of the modified oligonucleotide isa morpholino.
 58. The compound of claim 56, wherein the sugar surrogateof the modified oligonucleotide is a modified morpholino.
 59. Thecompound of any of claims 1-58, wherein the modified oligonucleotidecomprises at least one modified internucleoside linkage.
 60. Thecompound of claim 59, wherein each internucleoside linkage is a modifiedinternucleoside linkage.
 61. The compound of claim 59 or 60, comprisingat least one phosphorothioate internucleoside linkage.
 62. The compoundof claim 60, wherein each internucleoside linkage is a modifiedinternucleoside linkage and wherein each internucleoside linkagecomprises the same modification.
 63. The compound of claim 62, whereineach internucleoside linkage is a phosphorothioate internucleosidelinkage.
 64. The compound of any of claims 1-63 comprising at least oneconjugate.
 65. The compound of any of claims 1-64 consisting of themodified oligonucleotide.
 66. The compound of any of claims 1-65,wherein the compound modulates splicing of the PK-M transcript.
 67. Thecompound of any of claims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprisingany of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 4 to
 36. 68. Thecompound of any of claims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprisingany of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 4 to
 17. 69. Thecompound of any of claims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprisingany of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 18 to
 28. 70. Thecompound of any of claims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprisingany of the sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs. 29 to
 36. 71. Thecompound of any of claims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprisingSEQ ID NO.
 32. 72. The compound of any of claims 1-66, having anucleobase sequence comprising SEQ ID NO.
 7. 73. The compound of any ofclaims 1-66, having a nucleobase sequence comprising SEQ ID NO.
 24. 74.A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound according to any ofclaims 1-73 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent. 75.The pharmaceutical composition of claim 74, wherein the pharmaceuticallyacceptable carrier or diluent is sterile saline.
 76. A method ofmodulating splicing of a PK-M transcript in a cell comprising contactingthe cell with a compound according to any of claims 1-75.
 77. The methodof claim 76, wherein the cell is in vitro.
 78. The method of claim 76,wherein the cell is in an animal.
 79. The method of any of claims 76-78,wherein inclusion of exon 9 is increased.
 80. The method of any ofclaims 76-79, wherein exclusion of exon 10 is increased.
 81. The methodof any of claims 76-79, wherein inclusion of exon 10 is decreased. 82.The method of any of claims 76-81, wherein PK-M1 mRNA expression isincreased.
 83. The method of any of claims 76-82, wherein PK-M2 mRNAexpression is decreased.
 84. A method of modulating the expression ofPK-M in a cell, comprising contacting the cell with a compound accordingto any of claims 1-75.
 85. The method of claim 84, wherein PK-M1expression is increased.
 86. The method of claim 84 or 85, wherein PK-M2expression is decreased.
 87. The method of claim 84, wherein the cell isin vitro.
 88. The method of claim 84, wherein the cell is in an animal.89. A method of inducing apoptosis in a cell, comprising contacting thecell with a compound according to any of claims 1-75.
 90. The method ofclaim 89, wherein the cell is in vitro.
 91. The method of claim 89,wherein the cell is in an animal.
 92. A method comprising administeringthe compound according to any of claims 1-67 or the pharmaceuticalcomposition of claim 74 or 75 to an animal.
 93. The method of claim 92,wherein the administration is intracerebroventricular.
 94. The method ofclaim 92, wherein the administration is into the central nervous system.95. The method of any of claims 92-94, wherein the animal has one ormore symptoms associated with cancer.
 96. The method claim 95, whereinthe cancer is glioblastoma.
 97. The method of claim 96, wherein theadministration results in amelioration of at least one symptom ofcancer.
 98. The method of any of claims 91-97, wherein the animal is amouse.
 99. The method of any of claims 91-97, wherein the animal is ahuman.
 100. A method of preventing or retarding the growth of acancerous tumor, comprising administering the compound according to anyof claims 1-73 or the pharmaceutical composition of claim 74 or 75 to ananimal in need thereof.
 101. The method of claim 100, wherein the animalis a mouse.
 102. The method of claim 100, wherein the animal is a human.103. The method of claims 100 to 102, wherein the cancerous tumorcomprises glioblastoma.
 104. Use of the compound according to any ofclaims 1-73 or the pharmaceutical composition of claim 74 or 75 for thepreparation of a medicament for use in the treatment of cancer.
 105. Useof the compound according to any of claims 1-73 or the pharmaceuticalcomposition of claim 74 or 75 for the preparation of a medicament foruse in the amelioration of one or more symptoms cancer.
 106. The use ofclaim 104 or 105, wherein the cancer is glioblastoma.